'Governor of Barbadoes,1 and Major-General Sedgwick' new from England, made Commissioners, with Instructions,2 with full power over Jamaica,—and then read. LETTER CCIV VICE-ADMIRAL GOODSON, as his title indicates, went out as second under Penn; whose place he now fills as chief. Letters of his in Thurloe indicate a thick blunt stout-hearted sailor character, not nearly so stupid as he looks; whose rough piety, sense, stoicism, and general manfulness grow luminous to us at last. The Protector hopes the Lord may have blessed Goodson to have lighted upon some of the Enemy's vessels, and burnt them ;'-which is a hope fulfilled: for Goodson has already been at St. Martha on the Spanish Main, and burnt it; but got few 'ships, nor any right load of plunder either; the people having had him in sight for six hours before landing, and run away with everything to the woods. He got thirty brass guns and two bases,' whatever these are. The rest of the plunder, being accurately sold at the mast of each ship' by public auction, yielded just 4717. sterling, which was a very poor return. the Rio de Hacha ('Rio de hatch' as we here write it) 'the bay was so shoal' no great ships could get near; and our 'hoys' and small craft, on trying it, saw nothing feasible; wherefore we had drawn back again. Santa Martha, and plunder sold by auction to the amount above stated, was all we could get.3 SIR, To Vice-Admiral Goodson, at Jamaica ་ Whitehall, October [30] 1655.'* At I have written to Major-General Fortescue divers advertisements of our purpose and resolution, the Lord 1[In Serle's case, it was a re-appointment, as he had been one of the former Commissioners.] 2 Given in Thurloe, iv. 634. 4[This letter is dated by Vice-Admiral Goodson's despatch of April 13 (Thurloe, iv. 694) which speaks of the Protector's letters of October 30, received by the Marston Moor. Compare also Goodson and Sedgwick's letter of Jan. 24 (Thurloe, iv. 455) in which they allude to Oliver's exhortation to the Sea and Land forces to prosecute their affairs with brotherly kindness. In this same letter they reply to the Protector's letter to Major-General Fortescue (now dead) as regards fortification, raising of horse, and a possible attempt upon Cuba.] 3 Goodson's Letter, in ibid., iv. 159 et seqq. assisting, to prosecute this business; and you shall neither want bodies of men nor yet anything in our power for the carrying-on of your work. I have also given divers hints unto him of things which may probably be attempted, and should 1 be very diligently looked after by you both, but are left to your better judgments upon the place; wherein I desire you would consult together how to prosecute your affairs with that brotherly kindness that upon no colour whatsoever any divisions and distractions should be amongst you, but that you may have one shoulder for the work; which will be very pleasing to the Lord, and not unnecessary, considering what an enemy you are like to have to deal withal. We hope that you have, with 2 some of those ships which came last, near twenty men-of-war; which I desire you to keep equipt, and to make yourselves as strong as you can to beat the Spaniard, who will doubtless send a good force into the Indies. I hope, by this time the Lord may have blessed you to have light upon some of their vessels, whether by burning them in their harbours or otherwise. And it will be worthy of you to improve your strength, what you can, both to weaken them by parcels, and to engage them as you have opportunity, which, at such a distance I may probably guess, would be best 'managed' by not suffering, if you can help it, the new Fleet, which comes from Spain, to go unfought, before they join with the ships that are to the leeward of you. your 3 We are sending to you, with all possible speed, seven more stout men-of-war, some of them of forty guns, and the rest none under thirty, for assistance. This ship is sent before, with instructions, to encourage you to go on with the work; as also with instructions to Nevis, and the other Windward Islands, to bring so many of the Plantations off as are free to come, 'that they may settle with you at Jamaica.' And I desire you, with you" but the sense is good without it.] 1' would' in orig. your lesser merchant-ships or such others as you can spare, to give them all possible assistance for their removal and transplantation, from time to time, as also all due encouragement to remove. own. You will see by the enclosed what I have writ to MajorGeneral Fortescue. And I hope your counsels will centre in that which may be for the glory of God and good of this nation. It is not to be denied but the Lord hath greatly humbled us in that sad loss sustained at Hispaniola; no doubt but we have provoked the Lord, and it is good for us to know so, and to be abased for the same. But yet certainly His name is concerned in this work; and therefore though we should, and we hope we do, lay our mouths in the dust, yet He would not have us despond, but I trust gives us leave to make mention of His name and of His righteousness, when we cannot make mention of our You are left there; and I pray you set up your banners in the name of Christ, for undoubtedly it is His cause. And let the reproach and shame that hath been for our sins, and through (also may we say) the misguidance of some, work up your hearts to a confidence in the Lord, and for the redemption of His honour from the hands of men who attribute their successes to their Idols, the work of their own hands. And though He hath torn us, yet He will heal us; though He hath smitten us, yet He will bind us up; after two days He will revive1 us, in the third day He will raise us up, and we shall live in His sight.2 The Lord Himself hath a controversy with your Enemies, even with that Roman Babylon, of which the Spaniard is the great underpropper. In that respect you fight the Lord's battles; and in this the Scriptures are most plain. The Lord therefore strengthen you with faith, and cleanse you from all evil: and doubt not but He is able, and I trust as willing, to give you as signal successes as He gave your enemies against you. Only the Covenant-fear of the Lord be upon you.3 [Mis-printed "ruin" in Thurloe.] 2 Hosea, vi. 1, 2. 3 No other fear; nor is there need of any other hope or strength! If we send you not by this, yet I trust we shall by the next, our Declaration setting forth the justness of this war. I remain, Your loving friend, OLIVER P.* The Declaration here alluded to, of War with Spain, came out on Tuesday, 23d October 1655;1 which with sufficient approximation dates this Letter for us. By obscure intimations, allusions to events, and even by recurrence of phrases, the following Letter seems to have the same or a closely subsequent date; but no sense could be made of it till the Address, 'Major-General Fortescue, at Jamaica' (which, being nonsense, we have to impute to Birch), was erased,-was altered, by dim lights and guessings still a little uncertain, as below. *Thurloe, iv. 130. [Now printed from Thurloe's MS. copy at the Bodleian.] 1 Ibid., iv. 117; Godwin, iv. 217; Antea, p. 467. [Carlyle has been misled, as to this date, by a letter from Nieupoort, the Dutch ambassador, printed in Thurloe and there dated Nov. 3 (i.e., October 24 old style). But this date is manifestly too early, as the contents of Nieupoort's letter show. The MS. transcript, at the British Museum, is (no doubt correctly) dated Nov. [2]-12. In this letter, Nieupoort says that the Spanish ambassador left for Gravesend on Monday last (i.e., October 29 old style) and that the declaration was published next day i.e., Tuesday, the 30th. As a matter of fact, the ambassador left London on Saturday, October 27, as is shown by his own letters (Simancas Transcripts at the Public Record Office) but perhaps remained in the neighbourhood until Monday, as he did not reach Dover until the Tuesday. The Declaration (not of war, but, as Cromwell says above, "setting forth the justice of the war") was approved and ordered to be printed on October 26 (Cal. S. P. Dom. 1655, p. 400) but its publication was probably purposely delayed until after Cardenas's departure. It is printed in one of the King's Pamphlets (E. 1065, 1). All these letters and declarations were sent out, as the West Indian correspondence shows, by the Marston Moor frigate, which, after many delays, set out at the beginning of December, reached Barbados on the last day of the year, and Jamaica on the 15th of January.] 2[For the date see note, p. 469 above.] 3 Thurloe, iv. 633, &c. &c. [But see note on next page.] LETTER CCV 'To Daniel Serle, Esquire, Governor of Barbadoes' 1 [But should be To Luke Stokes, Esquire, Governor of Nevis'] SIR, 2 'Whitehall, October 1655.' Those are first to let you know that myself and this Government reckon ourselves beholding to you for the ready expressions of your love in giving assistance to our late design, which indeed, though it hath miscarried in what we hoped for, through the disposing hand of God, for reasons best known to Himself, and, as we may justly conceive, for our sins, yet is not this Cause the less His, but will be owned by Him, as I verily believe: and therefore we dare not relinquish it, but shall, the Lord assisting, prosecute it with what strength we can, hoping for a blessing for His name's sake. You will herewith receive some Instructions, with encouragements to remove your people thither, whereto I refer you: only let me tell you, that if you shall think to desire some other things which are not mentioned in those Instructions, you may' rest upon my word that we shall be most ready to supply what they may be defective in and you may reasonably demand, when once 1[There can be no doubt that this letter was written to Stokes, not to Searle. It is very improbable that Cromwell would suggest to Searle to give up so important a post as the government of Barbados, where he had his hands quite full with managing transported delinquents, ordering a militia, etc. Moreover, Searle was already a Commissioner-the only one left of the original four appointed in December 1654, and again, when acknowledging the receipt of the declaration to be read concerning transplantation to Jamaica, he definitely says that he has received no orders or commands from his Highness on the subject (Thurloe, iv. 400). Stokes, on the other hand, fits the situation in every respect. He had shown ready love and assistance to the design, he actually did remove himself with his people (see Correspondence in Thurloe during 1655, 1656), he was made a Commissioner (ibid., vi. 110), he thanks the Protector for honouring him with his lines of godly humility" by the Marston Moor (ibid., v. 66), and he writes to Major Sedgwick of the "undeserved and unexpected favours" of his Highness to himself (ibid., iv. 603).] 2 Hispaniola: to which Searle, at Barbadoes, had given due furtherance, as the Expedition passed. [But see note above.] 3 No! 4 Thurloe, iv. 633-7; worth reading, though in great want of editing. |