Page:History of the United States of America, Spencer, v1.djvu/151

, had been accused of sedition, but being acquitted, had also repaired to London with complaints, and his treatment being disapproved of, he was rewarded for his troubles with the office of secretary to the colony. Eastchurch being appointed governor, was, on his return, delayed in the West Indies by a wealthy marriage; while Millar proceeded to execute his functions, and to enforce the obnoxious provisions of the navigation act, which pressed heavily upon the rising commerce of the planters. The public discontent broke out into an insurrection, headed by John Culpepper; Millar was imprisoned; a popular assembly established; and when Eastchurch appeared to assume his government, the people refused their submission. Confident in the justice of their cause, they sent Culpepper, who had been appointed by them collector of customs, to England, to obtain the consent of the proprietaries to the recent changes; but Millar, having in the mean time made his escape, charged Culpepper as he, having effected his object, was about to embark, with "treason," for collecting the revenue without the authority of the king. It may seem strange, but he was defended from this charge by no other than Shaftesbury himself—then aiming at popularity—on the ground that the offence was not towards the crown, but the planters; a plea so successfully urged that Culpepper was acquitted by the jury. The proprietaries finding it useless to attempt to carry out the "model" by force, agreed to a compromise with the settlers, promised an amnesty, and appointed a new governor, Seth Sothel, a man of sordid character, who, during an administration of five years, pillaged both the proprietaries and the colonists, until the Assembly deposed him, banished him for a twelvemonth, and compelled him finally to abjure the government for ever.

During the period when the changes in the office of governor were so frequent in South Carolina (1680-85), the far-famed buccaneers appeared at Charleston to purchase provisions, and whether from fear or interest, the people, and even the governor himself, seemed to have connived at and even encouraged their visits. This dreaded body of freebooters had sprung up in the West India seas, where the Spaniards had once destroyed their haunts, but during the war with Spain they appeared anew, and obtained privateering commissions to harass the commerce and attack the cities of that country in America; armed with which power they so increased their numbers by desperadoes from every clime, and entered upon such daring and successful enterprises, that their, exploits inspired an admiration, with which, however, a feeling of terror was largely mingled. One of their leaders had even been knighted by Charles II., and another created governor of Jamaica. But the horrible abuses of such a system of licensed outrage and plunder had survived the occasion which led to its permission, and the peace with Spain had withdrawn from them the countenance of the English government, who now desired their suppression. But connivance at piracy was not the