Читать книгу The Life of Sir Henry Morgan. With an account of the English settlement of the island of Jamaica онлайн

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On 24th January, 1656, he announced that the plan had been given up. "We had long since attempted St. Jago de Cuba", he said, "could our army have afforded us but 500 men, but from the full intelligence we had of the strength of the place, we thought it not convenient to hazard our chief sea forces without a sufficient number of men to land." Admiral Goodson also reported that "the numbers of the soldiers had been so thinned by disease that they had not men enough to secure their own quarters."[37]

The situation was now much more favourable, as many of the disbanded soldiers were eager to undertake any enterprise which promised to be profitable. With a single exception all the members of the council had been officers in the army and their voice favoured open war. They promptly passed a resolution declaring that "the letters of the governors of Porto Rico and San Domingo were in absolute denial of trade, and that according to His Majesty's instructions to Lord Windsor a trade by force or otherwise was to be attempted." They further stated their opinion that the proclamation commanding a cessation of hostilities applied only to Europe.