ommissions to raise a militia for the preservation of order, but by the
time that a hundred men had been collected an alarm went forth that the
Cavaliers were advancing on Bridgetown. This was the 1st of May, and by
that time the Cavaliers were prepared to act. Their leader was Colonel
Walrond, who, on being sent for by the Governor, and saying they had no
evil intention, was allowed to depart. However, they took possession of
the town, and then came forward with the demand that all Independents
and other disturbers of the peace should be at once disarmed. To this
the Governor agreed, provided the well-affected should vouch for their
safety. They also stipulated that the magazine on the bridge should be
put under their protection, that those who obstructed the peace and
laboured to ruin the loyal colonists should be punished, that twenty
persons whose names they gave should be forthwith arrested, and that the
Governor should speedily call together the Assembly to try them;
meanwhile they refused to disperse until these things were done. The
Governor could do nothing but accede to these demands, but even then
there was something more which they considered the climax--"that our
lawful soveraigne Charles the Second be instantly in a solemn manner
proclaimed king."

This staggered the Governor, who said it was a matter for the General
Assembly, in which opinion he got them at last to agree. However, they
were not yet content, but insisted that at the dissolution of the
present Assembly only such men as were known to be well-affected to His
Majesty and conformers to the Church of England should be chosen and
admitted. After that they must be promised an "Act of oblivion" for the
lawful taking up of arms, safe-conduct for all officers on legislative
business, and, finally, that the Governor must come to them without the
companionship of any disaffected person and put himself under their
care.

All this was perforce agreed to, and on the 3rd of May Charles the
Second was declared king of England, &c., as well as of Barbados, and at
the same time the Book of Common Prayer was proclaimed to be the only
pattern of true worship.

Behind all this was a fact which no one mentioned, but which probably
everybody knew--on the 29th of April Lord Willoughby had arrived in the
harbour, bearing a commission as Governor of the Caribbee Islands, from
the fugitive King Charles and the Earl of Carlisle. No doubt the whole
demonstration was