72
PETITION FOR THE GOVERNOR'S RECALL.
governor—and, by the assistance of some of his armed sycophants, among whom was the provost-marshal, dragged Mr. Chester and his friends to prison. In order to give some face to his proceedings, Colonel Parke accused other gentlemen of joining in this pretended insurrection, and, accordingly, he sent some of his brutal partisans to an estate called " Denbows," with orders to take into custody Mr. Ffrye and Mr. Cockran, (members of the assembly,) and bring them to town to stand their trial upon that charge. While the magistrates were taking depositions in this case, Sergeant Bowes, a creature of the governor, beat Captain Kallabane (one of the witnesses for the defendant) in the open court. For this offence the sergeant was broke by his colonel, and ordered to be whipped ; but when this circumstance came to the ears of the governor, he immediately restored Bowes to his rank of sergeant, and protected him from all further punishment. Another source of dissatisfaction, upon the part of the assembly, arose from the circumstance of the governor taking the soldiers off duty to watch his private property. The following extract, taken from a message addressed to his excellency from the members of the house of assembly, relates to this subject :—" We always conceived her Majesty's troops were sent to do duty on our standing guards, and not to be altogether employed in guarding your excellency's person, your several buildings, your lumber, your heaps of bricks, mortar, and pantiles." It must not be supposed that these were the only complaints alleged against Colonel Parke. His whole conduct, both in public and private life, was arbitrary in the extreme ; and so supercilious was his treatment of the magnates of the island, that before he had held the government for twelvemonths, articles of impeachment were prepared to be forwarded to England. In 1707, a petition was drawn up and signed by eighty of the principal inhabitants, praying for his recall ; a sum of money raised in order to defray the expenses of sending Mr.