AN ENGLISH KNIGHT.
Morgan landed in Jamaica without mishap, and soon began to levy forces for an expedition to the isle of Santa Catarina, intending to make it a common rendezvous for the brethren of the seas; but the hideous atrocities committed during these piratical raids had at length roused the English ministers to a sense of shame, and awakened compunction even in the breast of the English monarch. A new governor was despatched to Jamaica, with orders that the treaty lately ratified between Spain and Great Britain should be strictly enforced. A general pardon and indemnity was proclaimed for past offences, and the ex-admiral of the buccaneers soon afterward repaired to England, where, by a judicious use of his wealth, he obtained from Charles II. the honor of knighthood, as before mentioned. The gibbet would have been a more fitting distinction.
Sir Henry Morgan, appointed commissioner of the court of admiralty and afterward deputy governor of Jamaica, held office until the accession of James II. when the court of Spain procured his arrest. He was sent a prisoner to his native country, and was cast into prison, where we will leave him. He was a ruffian, whose hell-born depravity of heart was relieved by no gleam of a better nature, and for whom one may search in vain for a parallel, even among those so-called heroes who dragged the banner of the cross through the blood of myriads of innocent victims, as they bore westward the glad tidings of Christ's redemption.
CHAPTER XXIX.
CORSAIRS IN THE SOUTH SEA.
1671-1682.
The New City of Panamá—Portobello Sacked by Pirates—A Buccaneer Fleet Assembles at Boca del Toro—The Corsairs Plan a Raid on Panamá—They Capture Santa María—And Thence Sail for Plantain Island—Massacre of their Captives—Desperate Conflict in Panamá Bay—Some of the Marauders Return across the Isthmus—The Remainder Proceed to the Island of Taboga—And there Capture Several Prizes—They are Asked to Show their Commissions—The Answer—They Sail for the Coast of Veragua—Their Repulse at Pueblo Nuevo—Their Operations on the Coast of South America—Some of Them Return to England—They are Tried and Acquitted.
THE NEW PANAMÁ.
When tidings of the destruction of Panamá reached Spain, the court ordered that a new city be forthwith built on a site that could be so strongly fortified as to render it impregnable. The one finally chosen was a small peninsula a little more than two leagues from the old city, at the base of the hill of Ancon. The foundations were laid in 1671. The town was surrounded by a wall, from twenty to forty feet high and ten feet wide, crowned with forts and watch-towers two or three hundred feet apart. So costly were the works that the council in Spain when auditing the accounts wrote to inquire whether the fortifications of Panamá, were of silver or gold. A deep moat divided the city from the mainland, the entrances being through three massive gates. Seaward the city was protected by coral reefs, extending for more than half a mile into the bay. Even at high tide vessels of heavy draught could barely approach within cannon shot and an invading force would be compelled to land from boats which would be exposed to the fire of the garrison. Thus the site, when fortified, though ill chosen in view of the commercial interests of the city, afforded the inhabitants, as they supposed, sure protection against the raids of buccaneers.
The new city of Panamá was laid out almost in the form of a square; having streets regular, but narrow, and so overhung with projecting balconies that one might pass through it during a heavy shower without being drenched. It was especially distinguished for its church architecture,[XXIX‑1] a large portion of its area being occupied by the buildings of the ecclesiastics. The church and convent of Santo Domingo was one of the finest and most important establishments, not only in Panamá, the city of churches, but in the New World. The main building, a hundred feet in length by fifty in breadth, with massive walls perforated by numerous arched windows, was separated from the porch by a strong brick arch about twenty feet high and with a span of forty feet; the radius at the key-stone being not more than two feet. The edifice remains to day apparently as firm as ever, a monument of the architectural skill of the Spaniards in the seventeenth century.
The cupola and bells for the new cathedral were fashioned at Madrid. When the bells were ready for casting, the queen invited the public to be present, and at the hour appointed the cupola was surrounded by an assemblage more brilliant than any that had ever met for such a purpose in Spain. Her Majesty, with maids bejewelled and all attired in rich silks, and dignitaries of court and state, with a vast concourse of the populace, gathered for the ceremony of blessing the bells. As it progressed, and one after another advanced with a piece of coin or of plate, enthusiasm increased. Women tore off their ornaments and flung them into the heated mass; decorations of office and mementos of affection were eagerly sacrificed, and the dedication was concluded amidst an outburst of religious zeal.
PORTOBELLO AGAIN SACKED.