The Poyais Imposture.
The Times, 1824-10-14T00:00:00

WVho has not beard of his Highness the Cazique of Poyais-of his Majesty the King of the Mesquito%-.of the Poyais loan, and of the total dispersion of the vassals of Poyais ? Every " reader who can read" must know that a great wvarrior, with a niorthern name, who signalized his courage by running away in every case of danger, pre- tended some time ago, like Lord Peter, with respect to his terra Australis incognita, to have received a sovereignty in- America-that he modestly invested himself with the attri- butes and titles of a sovereign prince-that he equipped his government with every kind, ranik, and denomina_ tion of servants fitted to carrv it on-that he had his war, htis marine, and home departments of Admi- nistration-that he granted commissions in his army, navy, and civil establishments-that, like other great Prinees, he formed contracts, and tried to raise loans-that he created titles of nobility and honour-and, in fact, every thing but money and power. After this full provision of territory, of office, and office-bearers, he bethought him- self that it might be requisite to have some subjects, and, accordingly, employed his agents to decoy to his new set- tlement a few of his countrymen, who, in spite of their cha- racteristic c-aution and prudence, could not resist the pro- mises of a millenium on the ivlosquito shore. There they- were taught to believe, tbat instead of the hunger and hard treatment of the Scotch Highlands, they were to enioy- plenty and ease-there they were to reap a crop of Ind&anr corn every quarter-grapes were to grow for them insteadl of thistles-the turtles of the shore were to yield not only tortoiseshell but pearls, and the mahogany trees were to, fall and enrich them with a valuable trade without the la- bour of the axe. To complete this medley of knavery and credulity-this extraordinary mixture of impudent inpos_ ture and confidingfolly-the agentsof the Cazique actually shipped off' subjects for his Highness, obtained a Governor to superintend the first settlement, and exported imple. mentsof husbandry andlhandicraft for its use. The public already know the result of the latter measure-they already know the fate of the poor creatures who relied on the promises made by the Government of the C'azique;- they already know that the King of the Mos- quitos declared against the pretended cession of Poyais -that what began in farce had ended in tragedy-and that the members of the deludiee settlement are now scattered over the earth, execrating as an impostor and a swindler the porson whom they had once acknowledged as their leader and protector. These disasters and this knavery, when first stated in England, were imptudently denied by the tents of the Cazique; and even an action for libel was brilught against the publication of notoIious and indisputable facts. The matter is now, however, set a rest, even in a legal point of view, l y a pamphlet lying before us, entitled Proceedings of an Inquiry and Investigation, instituted by M/ajor-General (Codd, Superintendent and Commander-in- Ch'if of Belize, in the Bay of Honduras. This publication lavs open the true situation of the imaginary state of Poyais, and relates, in the most authentic manner, the suf- ferinps of the unfortunate emigrants to the Alosquito shore. The ravestigation was undertaken by General Codd in self- defence, ana in justification of some of the magistrates of the colony which he superintends. C(ertain persons con- cerned, as they said, " in Poyaisian affkirs," had address- ed Lord Batliurst, tke Secretar for the Colonies, in a memorial containing weigbty charges against the ma- gistrates and inhabitants of Belize ; and a Colonel Low, connected with the same afitirs, had written a letter to his Lordship in a similar strain. His Lordship, transmitted this memorial and letter to the Governor of Honduras, commanding hint to exaamine the charges, and. transrnit home the result. The investigation in consequence took place in the Court-house of Belize on the loth of June, and a shart account of the proceedings will, we think,put an end to any prosecution for libel on the part of the Sovereign of Poyais or his agents. The mennorialists, " acting, as they say, for the Cazique of Poyais," represent to the Secretary of State tthat thev had at various times sent out to Poyais provisions, stores, and articles of merchandise to a great amount, and that " their pro- perty had been seized, carried off, and surreptitiously sold or concealed, bv certain merchants, who, as ma- gistrates, possess the whole civil power and authority at Belize ;' and that being supported, as the memorialists. believed, by General Codd, they refused to restore sucth I property, though required to do so by their agent. George Augustus Low." In answer to this charge, the merchants and magistates implicated state the miserable situation inl xvhich they foundi the Cazique's subjects, and shiow that the claim of 30,0001. fbr property carried off or con- cealed by them is an absurd exaggeration. Our readers M .-T JD,.-. .fi0 x> madtr atsout ais fictitious robbery, whben he lost, acco-d- ng to his own account, " three or four bonds of forty po,unds a piece, and a seal-ring of his grandfather's.' They will likewise remeneber that this rubbery eon- sisted of a few tavern bills (about the same value as the bonds of the Poyais loan), and that the followring gentle reproof was addressed to himn by his frien(I the Prince- " lVhy, thou impudent t-mbossed rascal, if there were anv thing 'ia thy pocket but tavern reckonings and memo- rantlums of - houses, I am a villain," Such seems to Ihave been nearly the charge made by the Caziqpue, and. I such the answer returned bv the Governor and MNIagistrates of Honduras. 'i'lTe accused Mlagistrates were successively examined, and we shall prodace some of their statements regarding the Poyais settlement. I A Mr. Mlarshal Bcnnett being sworn, deposed as follows. *- In the mnonth of April, in the last year, I was sent upon a mission, by order of His Majesty's Superir.tendent, to the los- quito shore, for the purposeofdteivenng to the Kiig of that coun- try the annual present fronm His Alajesty's Government; and, at the samie timne, to gain information for hiis filaiesty's Superintendent, as to a settlement said to have been recentlv established in that coun- try; as, from information he had receiv ed in the early part of this month (April), from five persons, who arrived here in a miserable condition, who stated that tIev had eloped from that establishment. and which they left in a very distressed state. so as to enable hirn the Superintendent, to afford relief to the suftererr there, slhould it be found necessary. Alvself and Alr. WVesitby arrived at Black River ott the 26th of April; and found an establishment there. Sickness and wretchedness prevailed ansong the settlers to a very great extent, without the mecans of obtainieg comforts suitable to their distressed state. On the 29th of April, I received a mnemorial trom a numiber of the settlers, sowiriting Ine to coavey them to Be- lize. I stated to them my regret that I could not thold our any en- couTagemnentto neet theii wishes, but that I should nresent their inemorial, on toy arrival at Belize. to the King's buperriten&d er.t; and I furtnier stated, that if the concurrence ot the Lieu- tenant Governor, (olonel Hall, could be obtaineed, for anv of tienm to leave that establishmient amid authorize mue to take theni, that I would then feel no hesitation in giving a passage to some. On or about the 6th of May, Lieutenant Governor Hall arrived at Black Rivcr, and on ithe tatter being submitted to him, he ausho- rized that rneasure, to prevent, as he said, the waste of hunan life. If thcrefore it can then be imputed to me as a erime, that from motives of humianity, I was induced, under the sanction of the Licutenant. Governor, to receive on board nmy vessel, then Iying oft' Black River, on the Mosquito Shore, sixty-six individuals, all, with the excep- ton (I believe) of three, languishing on the bed of sickness witt fever, and chiefly consisting of women and children ; I there- fore say, that if this act, fbonded on humanity ota my part, can be perverted into a crime, then I am guilty o * 0 e a * ax . a From the alarming disesc among the settlers, and which was daily increasing,the Lieutenant Governor was induced to solicitHis Vltaiestv's Superintendent to affbrd hint the means to remove the re- nmainder of the settlers froml Black River to this settlement, and wlticli urzent despatch was sent bv tne, and addressed to Brigvade- ,M,ajor Baldwinh. In consequence of which, tn my arrival at Be- ize, my vemsel was, under ithe autlhoritv of Ilis Majesty's Superir, tendent, ordered to proceed to Black River, where she arrived, and soon after returned to this port, having on board Lieutenant Go- vernor Hall, with many of the settlers-all, I believe, in a sickly state and miserable condition, to which tnany now perseat will bear testi- mony. This vessel was, some time atter, chartered by me to Co- lonel Hall to rcturn to Black River. She did so, and was ag-'?% cliartered a second time to him, Colonel Hall, tor the sarue putpeA and each time plaoed under his immnediate control * and in her he took his pastsge, fromn whence he brought in her the stores belonginz to the Poyaisian Government, or the greater part of them, with thre few remnainig settlers that had been left in charge, andtion the ar- rival of the stores at Belize, at tec solicitation of Colonel Hall, I al- lowed them to be sheltered in mny warehouse fronm the weather, unti! they could otherwise he disposed of." A Mlr. W. WVright, Mr. S. August, MIr. IV. Gentle, Ir. Thomas Pickstock, all magistrates, deposed to the saml facts. The later stated, tha(a number of Scotch emigrants. unexpetedly arrived at Belize, from the Mosquito shore, on the i1th of Alay, 1823. Most of thern were in a verv infirm and deplorable state. These poor beings were sin- mediately lodlged in the hospitas, and abuadantly supplied by this public. Another party, mucli more numerous, followed on the 30thI, when the next dav I had the honour of receiving a communication fromn the Ring's superintend- ent (Mlajor-General Codd), apprising rme, that in conse- quence of the very distressing and destitute sitnation, of many of His Majesty's subjects, he had judged it prudent to appoint a committee to superinitend and regulate the charity of public and private friends, to be appropriated for the relief of these unfortunate people. Mr. George Wersley, the keeper of the public records of the settlement, stated oni oath, that having been sent with presents to the M osquito King, he saw the Poyais settle> r in a most wretched condition. " Iis Maiesty's Superintendent (he adds) not having received from His Mlajesty's Government any inforatation of the es tablish. nient we wcere directed to ascertain its nature, as also tne wants of the unhappy people wlo had arrived there, and with the full conte , of the authonties at that place, to resider them everv rssistance in Dur power. Previous to our departure, Mr. Gouger, one of the-chief 3ettlers, and baske-r of aot intagtnary bank, and who had quitted that ?lace, arrived bere, and confirned the drwdfuf state of the people the He aso related the conduct of t Mr. Hedgoek, the master of the Honduras packet, who had brought the first settlers out, in taking aw-ay an imrnense quantity of their stores. Theae were the first intimations (say in the eamly part oftApril, 1823) this settlement had of any establishment being on the Mosquito shore, as far as comes within my knowledge, although they had been at that period some time atrived. We left Belizeion the 5th ofApril, and arrived off Black River, l believe, on theeveningof ihe26thofApril. W'e were soon after boarded by several of the people tbere, who certainly hailed our coming with great pleasure, and most urgently prayed for anpassage ar.way. ? a a a a a a thik it scarce possible to witness greater misery than that which presented itself to us. Mqost of the people were lyinig on the gr=rOn, unuder a fcr leaves and bral7n>chee t17row n aerost some .sticks, rwhirh it would be a violation of trsth to call houtses; many weere in o sifte of agu candfever, and abseltutclu u nable to crawl to tlhe woods frr the common of'lCes qf nature. The stench a2risitig fromntthis ir. ouMstance in thc huts, tle fillty and almiost naked state they were 3n, t e absenre of clcan1iness and comfort, the want of good nucrses, noouruishmenqt, and, abore all) of good w.eeter, combined with the want of medicine, seemed ts be accelerating the work of death, wbich was already advancing from disease. Indeed, it is impossible that I can describe it in sufficiently strong language, to enable the Bench tO form any thing like a judgment as to their true situation. _ lany applications were made to mne, to use my influence with Mr. Bennett to take them away. vly geaeral answer was, I it is impossible; Alr. Bennett will not do it, without You obtain the sanction of y,our Governors.' I added, moreover, 'V ou appear to be almost all indented servants;' the reply invariably was, that Sir Gregor Ml'Gregor had broken his engagements with them ; that they had bten deluded; and that Colonel Hall, their Governor, had not an) thing to pay them their wages with, oth6r than Poyais bank notes ; that there was no bank, and tkat prper would be of no n-c to buy them nonurishment front the Irdians; also, that the M;losquito King hal said, that they were to be his subjects; consequently, all agreements had been broken * and in general concluded by saying. that they were British suibjects, and that they were not to be kept there Iise slaves or to be kept there to die of want ! Indeed, they appeared desperate. On Colonel Hall'b return to Black River, and seeing their state, he gave his sanction to the removal of from 60 to 6 pearons mtostly women and children; and he, I verily believe, from a sense of duty tohis God and to society at large, determined en the resooval of tile remainder, if pnssi ble." But the most curious of all the depositions is that made by Colonel Hall, who had undertaken to be the Cazique's Governor. In his evidence he gives the history of the whole, enterprise, describes the difficulties with whieh he had to contend, and confirms the testimrony of the previous wit- nesses respecting the drea(dful misery from which the Poyais settlers ware relieved:- " I tTust," saysthis candid officer, " the above statementmay prove to this honourable Court, that every exertion in my power, physi- cal and meral, ere brought into activity, to give permanence to this itLfated establishment: the difficulties opposed to me were beyond the removal of human exertions. Had I notavailed myself of the opportunxity presented by- Mr. Bennett's arrival, anti removed the setylors from Black River, at a period wkhen disease, aggravated by d4"tlr, was accelerating the work of death, I should have sub- jected rryself to the severe visitations of Divine displeasure, and ob- noxious to the merited execrations of mankind. I must ever lament that I should have been the unintentional cause of drawing on Ala- i"r-fxeneral Codd andl the respectable magistrates and inhabitants of the settlements, such a load of unfounded calumny and defamation. " The benevolence and humanity of Mlajor-General Codd, the magistrates, and respectable inhabitants of Belize, and their solici- tude to alleviate the sufforinis of these unfortunate persons, exceeded zn most sanguiine expectatArsn. AVe have only left ourselves room for two or three clocu- rients, which we give, not on account of their importance, but their siugularity. The firstis a proclamation from the King of the Mosquitos, whe condtscenls to call George IV. his brother, andl who receives precelits from him in toskeln of friendship an(i gratitude. His Mosquito Majesty, -who speaks thus magnificently, was, we understand, aclerk il a Jamaica house, before he took up the trade of King:- " I. George Frederic Augustus the Second, by the grace of God, King of the Alosquilo nation, do hereby decree the grant of land given to Sir Gregor 1M1'Gregor null and void, he not having fulfilled hus contract with mn, agreeably to his stipulation ; and having con- n-acted a debt on a part of my territory, without my consenlt, assuin- ing to himself the title of Cazique of Poyais, declaring the aforesaid grarnt to be an independent state. " Therefore, be it known to all those persons wiho have purchased lands, that the aforesaid lands shall be the lawftl propertv, after be- i9F signed brme: that all persons holding grants of lanl will make *hter that dethec st oi Januatv, 1824, as they will be forfeited ter.thzt date'; and all grants of land, sold by Sir Gregor Al'Gre- gor sin^c the 1st of January, 182.3, are declared null and void. "Given under my hand at Cape Gracias a Dios, this 28th day of Ai-Aiml, in the year of our Lord 1823. "GEORGE FREDERIC AUGUL7STUS, King of the Alosquito Nation." The second hir no less than the oath of allegiance taken by the -assals of Poyais to their liege lord the Caziqste:- ' I. A. B., do hereby most solemnly sweaT, in the presence of A.mi,rhty God, and upon the Holy Evangelists, that I acknowledge his fighnesm (Gregor, Cazique of Poyais, to be the true and lawful Sorvereign of the said territory of Povais anti its dependencies; and furthermore. T. in like manner, lo swe.ar that I will now, as well as in all times to come, love, honour, and obey lils Ilighness Gregor, ('.aiqne of Povais. as my true and lawful Prince, and will defend him aasinst all his enemies at the peril anl risk of my life. So help ne (rod." The third and last document to which we shall treat our risadees, is a commission signed "' Gregor P.," and counter- sipned "' The SecretarY of ll'ar to the Cazique":- ' Gregor, Prince of Poyais. Cazique of the Poyais Nation, Defender of the Rights of the Indian Triles, &c. " To our tTusty and wevll-beloved Robert .Iohn Edgar, Esq. greeting, - Me, reposing especial trust anti confidence in vour loyalty, courase, and good conduct, do, by these presents, constitute and appoint you to be Captain of that troop, whereof , Esq. wa, late Captain. in our Ist Regiment of L.ancers, commanded by our trustv and well-beloved Major-Genernl Baron Bagano. Y You are therefore to take the said troop into your care, and charge, and duty, to exercise as well the officers as soldiers thereof in ernos, and to usc vour best endeayours to keep them in good oTdeT and disdpline; atid we do hereby comman4 them to obey vou as their Captain; and you are to observe and fillow such orlers and directions from time to time as yoiu shall receive from us, youlr Colonel, oT any other vour superior officer, according to the rules and discipline of war, in pursuance of the trust hereby reposed in you. Given at london. the 4th dlay of June, 123, in the 4th year of our reign. By command of his Serene Highness, " GREGOR, Prinice of Poyais. SANr Le CAS IUnder Secretary of State for the War and Alarine Departitnents." After this sworn account of the tragi-comical Jack Catle adventure of the Cazique, we again repeat, that we expect to hear no nore of an action or prosecution for libel at the instance of himself, his nobility, or fninisters. THE POYAIg IMPOSTURE.