omplicated character. More
than ever was his administration of his native island marked by
unblushing egotism. Oppressive, grasping, unguarded in speech, and
almost unrestrained in action, he seemed, from one point of view, the
model of a sordid, short-sighted despot, making hay while the sun shone.
But he had a fund of caution which kept him from proceeding quite to
extremes, and his energy and ability were undeniable, as was also his
attention to business. Hence, while feared and even hated, he was still
respected and obeyed. Most of the militia officers were his creatures,
as were also--as we have already seen--the civil, judicial, and
legislative officers of the little republic. The seat of his government
was at S. Helier, while S. Aubin, on the opposite point of the bay, was
filled with his skippers and their crews, and the traders who profited
by their piratical proceedings. Hardly a week passed but some rich
prize--usually an English merchantman--was brought in there, to be
condemned by Carteret's court, and sold, together with her cargo, while
the unfortunate mariners who had manned her were left to their own
resources. Adventurers from all parts flocked to Jersey, to share the
gains of this new and irregular trade, while the lawful commerce of
England was menaced as with a cancer. With the resources derived from
his maritime enterprise, joined to what he drew from his fines, taxes,
exactions, compositions, and confiscations within the limits of the
island, the unscrupulous governor was founding a sort of Christian
Barbary, and becoming a hostile power no less than a public scandal.
Nevertheless, he could on occasion make a generous use of his ill-gotten
gains.[_v._ Appendix.] He sent money more than once to the necessitous
court in Holland, continuing to do so until the king departed thence to
Scotland. And he kept up such a stream of supplies for Castle Cornet, in
Guernsey, as enabled Sir Baldwin Wake, the commandant, to hold out
against all the force of the Parliamentary power in that island, and
against all attempts by sea. Indeed this remarkable siege lasted longer
than the fabled one of Troy, and the feat, however creditable to the
handful of men by whom it was performed, and to Osborne and his
successor Wake, was only rendered possible by the constant aid of Sir
George Carteret. Most of all, however, did that energetic officer enrich
himself, laying in fact the foundation of that greatness which
afterwards