Chap. XV, from the I. oj James, I to the Revolution.

1618. " ther Englijh were, in that Sort, mur-

" dered, the Year before my Delivery

" out of the Tower. -(Now

" if this Kind of Trade be peaceable,<f there is then a peaceable Trade in< r the Indies, between us and the Spa-<c niards ; But if this be cruel War and" Hatred, and no Peace, then there is" no Peace broken by our Attempt;« Again, how doth it stand with the" Greatness of the King of Spain, first" to call us Enemies, when he did hope" to cut us in Pieces, and then having" failed, to call us Peace-Breakers:)

For to be (anEnemy andPeace-break-" er, in one and the lame) Action is im-" possible. But the King of Spain in" his Letter to the Governour of Guiana,<<r dated at Madrid, the nine and twen-tc tieth of March, before we left the" Thames, called us Engleses Enimigos." ( Englijh Enemies.)

“ Had it pleased the King of Spain" to have written to his Majesty, in se-" venteen (the printed Letter says but" seven) Months Time for we were sotr long in preparing, and have made" His Majesty know, that our landing" in Guiana would draw after it a Breach" of Peace, I presume to think His" Majesty would have stayed our En-" terprize, for the present. This he,f might have done with less Chargestc than to levy three Hundred Soldiers,

and transport ten Pieces of Ordnance,,c from Puerto Ricco, which Soldiers,(e added to the Garrison of St. Thomas,tc had they arrived before our coming," had overthrown all our raw Compa-" nies. And there would have follow-

ed no Complaint.

" For the main Point of Landing" near St. Thomas, it is true, that we" were of Opinion, that we must have" driven the Spaniards out of their" Town, before we could pass the" thick Woods, upon the Mountain of" the Mine, which I confess I did first" resolve upon ; But better bethinking" myself, I reserved the taking of the" Town to the Goodness of the Mine,Cs which if they found to be so rich, as" it might persuade the leaving of a<c Garrison there, then to drive the" Spaniards thence: But to have it" burnt was never my Intent, neither" could they give me any Reason why" they did it.

" Upon the Return, I examined the" Serjeant Major and Keymis, why" they followed not my last Directions,

" for the Trial of the Mine, before the" taking of the Town. And they an-" swered me, that altho’ they durst" hardly go to the Mine, leaving aGar-" rison of Spaniards between them and" theirBoats,yet they said,they followedtc those latter Directions, (the printedLetter has it, yet they offended their" latter Directions) and did land be-" tween the Town and the Mine, andthat the Spaniards, without anyMan-" ner of Parly, set upon them unawares" and charged them, calling them Pe-" ros Engleses, (or Englijh Dogs) and,“ by skirmishing with them, drew them" on to the very Entrance of the Town," before they knew where they were,te so as if any Peace had been in those" Parts, the Spaniards first brake the" Peace, and made the first Slaughter :{< For as the Englijh could not but land," to seek the Mine, being come thi-" ther to that End, so being first revil-" ed and charged by the Spaniards," they could do no less then repel" Force by Force.

" Lastly, it is a Matter of no smallConsequence,to acknowledge we have" offended the King of Spain, by landingsf in Guiana .

" FoR first, it weakens His Majesty’s" Title to the Country, or quits it.

" Secondly, there is no King that“ hath ever given the least Way to any" other King or State, in the Traffick" of the Lives and Goods of his Sub-" jects, to wit, as in our Cafe, that" it shall be lawful for the Spa?iiards‘ r to murder us, either by Force or" Treason, and not be lawful for us" to defend ourselves, and pay themwith their own (Coin ; For this Su-“ periority and Inferiority is a Thing" which no absolute Monarch ever" yielded to, or ever will.)

" (Thirdly, it shews the Englijh" bear greater Respect to the Spani-fc ards, and are wore doubtful of hisForces, than either the French or" Dutch are, who daily invade all“■ Parts of the Indies, without being" questioned at their) — Return, yea" at (my own Being at) Plymouth a“ French Gentleman called E'lory went“ thence with four Sail, (and three" Hundred Land-men) with Commisti-on to land, to burn and to sack all" Places in the Indies, (that he could)" master, and yet hath the Frenchte King married a Daughter of Spain .

" This

453

1618.