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

6 страница из 128

There may be some truth in this account and Morgan may have enlisted in Venables's command at Barbados, as Ludlow relates that "they [Penn and Venables] made proclamation there that whosoever would engage in the undertaking should have their freedom, whereupon about two thousand servants listed themselves to the great distress of the planters."[7]

In Colonel Thomas Modyford, speaker of the House of Assembly, Venables found a most ardent and influential supporter, who persuaded that body to offer sixty horsemen for the expedition, and give him permission to recruit by beat of drum in public places, by which much ill will was excited among the planters, some of whom did not hesitate to denounce Modyford as a traitor to the interests of that island. But war with Spain was always popular, as it was usually profitable, and many volunteers were enrolled in the hope of plunder, expecting to take "mountains of gold". Venables reported that he had raised three thousand men but was unable to arm more than thirteen hundred. At Montserrat, Nevis, and St. Kitt's smaller bodies were recruited, numbering in all between twelve and thirteen hundred more and increasing his force to seven thousand ill-trained and ill-armed men. Henry Morgan's name does not appear in the list of officers which has been preserved, and his service must have been in the ranks, but it seems likely that the nephew of Thomas Morgan would be entitled to special consideration.