120
��Early History of the Bermuda Islands.
��emor of the place. Governor Seymour received a letter from him in which he stated that "upon the ninth day of July there came hither against me a pirate or sea robber, named John Wentworth, the which over-run my lands, and that against the will of mine owne inJiabits, and shewed himself a ty- rant, in robbing and firing, and took my negroes from my Isle, belonging to no man but myself. And likewise I doe understand that this said John Went- worth, a sea robber, is an indweller with you, soe I desire that you would punish this rogue, according to }'our good law. I desire you, soe soon as you have this truth of mine, if you don't of yourself, restore all my negroes againe, whereof I shall stay here three months, and in default of this, soe be assured, that wee shall speake together very shortly, and then I shall be my owne judge."
This threatening letter caused great consternation, and immediately steps were taken to place the colony in the best posture for defence, reliance be- ing had on the impregnability of the islands, instead of delivering up the plunder, especially as Captain Went- worth held a commission from the Gov- ernor and Council, and acted under their instructions.
Isaac Richier, who became Governor of the colony in 1691, was another cel- ebrated freebooter. The account of his reign reads like a romance. The love of gold, and the determination to pos- sess it, was the one idea of his states- manship. He was a pirate at sea and a brigand on land. Nevertheless, it does not appear that any of his misdeeds, such as hanging innocent people, and robbing British ships, as well as others, led to his recall, or caused any degree of indignation which such conduct usually arouses. The fact appears to
��be that, although Governor Richier was a bold, bad man, yet few of his subjects were entitled to throw the first stone at his excellency.
Benjamin Bennett became Governor of the colony in 1701. At this time the Bahama Islands had become a ren- dezvous for pirates, and a few years later. King George the First issued a proc- lamation for their dislodgment. Gov- ernor Bennett accordingly dispatched a sloop, ordering the marauders to sur- render. Those who were on shore on. his arrival gladly accepted the oppor- tunity to escape, and declared that they did not doubt but that their compan- ions who were at sea would follow their example. Captain Henry Jennings and fifteen others sailed for Bermuda, and were soon followed by four other Cap- tains — Leslie, Nichols, Homigold, and Burges, with one hundred men, who all surrendered.
In 1 710 the Spaniards made a de- scent on Turk's Island, which had been settled by the Bermudians for the pur- pose of gathering salt, and took pos- session of the island, making prisoners of the people. The Bermudians, at their owti expense and own accord, dis- patched a force under Captain Lewis Middleton to regain possession of the Bahama Cays. The expedition was successful, and a victory gained over the Spaniards, and they were driven from the islands ; they still, however, continued to make predatory attacks on the salt-rakers at the ponds, and on the vessels going for and carr}qng away salt. To repel these aggressions and afford security to their trade, the Bermudians w^ent to the expense of arming their vessels.
In 1775 the discontent in the Ameri- can provinces had broken out into open opposition to the crown, and the peo- ple were lorbidden to trade with their
�� �
