that both the foldiers and failor's were fickly. Thus ended this promifing expedition, in which, according to the French accounts, the English loft fome of their heavy artillery, befides having about fix hundred men killed, and three hundred taken prisoners.

Soon after this attempt, king William recalled colonel A.D. 1694 Kendall, whom he made one of the lords of his admiralty,

and nominated colonel Francis Ruffet, brother to the earl Rufel, of Orford, to the government of Barbadoes; and likewife governor. to the command of a regiment, which was to refide and do duty upon that island. All this while the epidemical fickness continued to rage both at fea and on land, and carried off fuch numbers of feamen, that the affembly was forced to pass an act for manning the Tiger and the Mermaid, two men of war that lay in Carlisle Bay for the protection of the island. Some of the Barbadoes regiment having been left in the Leeward Islands, after the Martinico expedition, the new governor fitted out the brigantine Marygold to bring them home. The affembly, about the fame time, victualled the Bristol man of war and the Play Prize, for their fecurity against the French; remitted a confiderable fum of money to their agents at London for the use of their island; and made a prefent of two thoufand pounds to their governor, who had carried over with him a numerous and expensive family, befides paying his regiment. Upon the death of queen Mary, the governor, A.D.1695. council, and affembly, prefented a moft dutiful addrefs of condolance to his majefty, which he received with great fatisfaction; but the want of economy in England, and the party-heats which prevailed at court, laid the Barbadians under infinite hardfhips. They were obliged to victual, man, and pay the very fhips appointed for the convoy of their trade; and though they made a fresh present to the governor of two thousand pounds, fo little attention was paid to the fecurity of the island, that when de Pointis, the French admiral, came in fight of Barbadoes, in his expedition to Carthagena, there was not in all the forts upon the island seven rounds of powder. It was thought that the agents of the pirates, who now began to be blesome, had shipped off great quantities of that commodity for their new fettlement at Madagascar. Meanwhile governor Ruffel died, and the adminiftration in the interim devolved, as ufual, upon the prefident of the council, who was Francis Bond, efq.

very trou

Mr. Bond's adminiftration was productive of feveral excellent measures for the benefit of the island. The right. of elections of members to ferve in the affembly was fe

cured

cured, and a great point was gained by their paffing an act, "that the folemn affirmation and declaration of the people called Quakers, fhall be accepted instead of an oath in the ufual form." By another act of the fame affembly, judges were restrained from pleading and practising in any courts of the ifland; and by another, the militia of Barbadoes was put under a better regulation than it had ever been under before. Cannon were ordered to be mounted upon the principal pofts of the island, the inhabitants being every day apprehenfive of an invafion; but they were somewhat A.D. 1697. relieved by the arrival of an English fleet under admiral Nevill, who was ordered to go in fearch of Pointis.

Grey, go

vernor.

Ralph Grey, efq. brother of the earl of Tankerville, being appointed governor, failed from St. Helens on the ift of June, 1698, and, on the 26th of July, arrived at Barbadoes in the Soldados prize, together with the Speedwell man of war. Hitherto the governor of Barbadoes had generally refided upon an estate called Fontabell, hired by the affembly; but that habitation being not only out of repair, but also expofed to defcents of pirates and enemies, the affembly paffed an act "to fettle five hundred pounds per A.D. 1698. annum on his excellency for his habitation." Another act paffed for declaring and afcertaining the rights and powers of the general affembly of the island; and on the 7th of September, that fame year, the affembly made their new governor a prefent of two thoufand pounds.

Mr. Grey's administration happened to be very popular, though he had from the crown an order to receive twelve hundred pounds a year out of the four and a half per cent. to be paid on the fpot by the collectors of the tax; but being generous and magnificent, his perfon was very acceptable to the planters, though their island at the time of his arrival was in a miferable condition. The infectious diftemper was not quite abated. The expedition to Martinico had coft the Barbadians above thirty thoufand pounds, above forty fugar-works were deferted; many acres of ground lay wafte; the late expenfive taxes had disabled fome of the principal planters from carrying on their works. Not only corn and provifions of all kinds, but even fugars, were become fcarce; and a fresh hurricane deftroyed great numbers of plantations that had been repaired. As fome alleviation to fo many misfortunes the fickness soon after Mr. Grey's arrival ceafed. The northern colonies, New England efpecially, fupplied Barbadoes with provisions; and though not above ninety thousand acres in the whole ifland were in a condition to pay taxes, the inhabitants fupported themselves and their government with invincible

fpirit and conftancy. The laws of the island were collected and printed at the public expence ; and all its former calamities feemed to vanish. In the year 1701, the governor, Mr. Grey, going to England for the recovery of his health, where he foon after became lord Grey of Werk, by the death of his brother, left the administration of affairs in the hands of John Farmer, efq. prefident of the council. In his time happened the death of king William, and the acceffion of queen Anne to the crown; events which were notified in form to the prefident and affembly of Barbadoes. Her majefty was proclaimed with all the pomp which the government of the ifland could furnish out; and a moft loyal addrefs of congratulation and condolance was fent over, which was prefented to her majefty by the lord Grey, the late governor. As foon as the war broke out between France and England, the island of Barbadoes, which had now recovered its former vigour, fitted out a great number of privateers to act against the French Leeward Iflands. Sixteen of thefé rendezvoufing off the island of Guadaloupe, their crews landed; and brought off a confiderable number of Negroes. Barbadoes was, at the fame time, threatened with a new confpiracy of the Negroes, who had plotted to seize the forts of the ifland; but being difcovered, the ring-leaders were apprehended and executed. In 1703, Sir Bevil fir Bevil Grenville fupplanted Mr. Mitford Crow, a London Grenville merchant, in the government of Barbadoes. Mr. Crow governor.. had kiffed king William's hand upon his nomination, and was very acceptable to the planters; but, upon that prince's death, fir Bevill obtained the place, to the great difappointment of a number of the islanders. The presents of two thousand pounds which had been made, being found inconvenient for the crown as well as the people, the cu ftom was abolished in fir Bevill's perfon; but he was impowered to receive as his falary eight hundred pounds a year of additional revenue, which raifed his ordinary income to two thousand pounds. Upon his arrival at Barbadoes, the affembly paid him the compliment of appointing his brother-in-law, fir John Stanley, to be one of their agents at London; and a new houfe was built for himself, on a fpot called Pilgrim's Plantation, which continues to this day to be the refidence of the governors.

Sir Bevill having been brought in by the tory miniftry in the first year of queen Anne's reign, met with many enemies upon the ifland, who reprefented him in a very unfavourable light at home. There is fome reafon for believing that his behaviour was not fo cautious as it ought to

A.D.1707.

have been; but the Barbadians under him, having had great fuccefs in privateering, his conduct was the lefs queftioned, especially as he had denied all the articles charged against him ; and none of them feem to have been legally proved. On the other hand, fir Bevill complained of a defign that had been formed against his life; and parties went fo high in the island, that a member of the council was fined two thousand pounds on that account. In 1705, the want of fpecie in the island was fenfibly felt, on account of the filver's being fent off to evade the compliance with a proclamation for reducing it to a certain standard all over the English West Indies. To fupply this fcarcity, the affembly paffed an act for ftriking paper-money to the amount of fixty-five thousand pounds, which their treasurer was to give out in bills to the planters, upon the fecurity of land and Negroes; and Mr. Holder, the speaker of the affembly, being appointed treasurer, had an allowance of five per cent. for managing the bills. This act was exclaimed against by the gentlemen of the greatest property in the inland, as a fraud, on account of the difficulty they found in negociating the bills; and no fooner did the affembly rise, than they fent over remonftances to England against the measure.

Sir Bevil Grenvill found himself now uneafy, and obtained his recall, but died on his voyage to England. Upon Succeeded his death Mr. Crow, who had diftinguished himself by his by Crow. fervices in Spain to the whig adminiftration, was appointed governor of Barbadoes. He found parties there running very high on account of the paper credit. The whig intereft now prevailing in England, one of the first acts of his government was to remove from their places at the council-board, and from the administration of all affairs, all those who had been concerned in the paper-credit act; and Mr. Holder was obliged to refund the money he had received for the management of the bills. Mr. Crow being recalled upon the change of the miniftry, at the latter A.D.1711. end of queen Anne's reign, was fucceeded by Robert Lowther, efq. and he in his turn was removed, in confequence of fome complaints against his administration; but he was restored to his government upon the acceffion of George I. to the crown of Great Britain.

Lowther,

governor.

SAINT LUCIA.

THIS ifland is diftant only twenty-one leagues from Barbadoes, fix leagues fouth from Martinico, and as much north from St. Vincent. The island, which takes its name

from

from its being difcovered on the day of the popish martyr, St. Lucia, is fifteen miles in length, and eleven in breadth. It exhibits a variety of hills, and, amongst others, two that are remarkably round and high, faid to be volcanos. At the bottom of thefe are plains, finely watered with rivers, and very fertile. The air, by the difpofition of the hills, which admit the trade-winds into the illand, is found to be very healthy. The foil produces trees, which are fit for building houfes and wind-mills, and have often been employed for that purpofe by both the French and the English planters. It likewife affords cocoa and fuftic. It is provided with many bays and harbours, the chief of which, called the Little Carenage, is counted the best in all the Caribbees.

lifb.

The Caribbees, who were the original inhabitants of St. Settled by Lucia, and gave name to those islands, were a fierce in- the Engtractable race of favages. The English were fettled upon St. Lucia, where they had lived fome time, when, in the year 1638, the Caribbeeans, inftigated by the French, either killed, or drove from the island, all the English fettlers, with their governor. We do not, however, find that the French at this time laid any formal claim to the property of the ifland. The enmity of the barbarians to the English was founded on the following incident: an English veffel lying at Dominica, under a French flag, the Caribbeeans, taking her for a fhip of that nation, came on board to traffic as ufual, but being firft intoxicated, were kidnapped by the captain, who forthwith fet fail in order to carry them off the island. The favages, perceiving his treachery, leapt overboard, and fwam afhore, all but two, whom the English captain put in irons, and fold for flaves. Those who efcaped, inftigated all the Caribbeans who were difperfed through the Windward Iflands, to revenge this treachery. They accordingly landed upon all the English fettlements that were acceffible to their canoes, and maffacred as many of the inhabitants as fell in their way. The governor, or chief man of St. Lucia, was murdered in his bed, together with moft of the people, a few only efcaping to Montferrat. Those who furvived carried their complaints to Monf. de Poincy, governor of all the French Caribbee Iflands, against Monf. Parquet, governor of Martinico, whom they accufed of being the inftigator of the maffacre. De Poincy acquitted Parquet of the charge, as the latter endeavoured to prove, that he had fent intelli. gence of the defign of the favages to the English as foon, as he knew it. Notwithstanding this plea, the English still MOD. VOL. XXXVI.

P

con