prevent the ships of the Royal Company
from transgressing the regions mentioned in his charter. About the
time at which his charter expired (June 25, 1662), he agreed to
transfer all his interests in the fortifications at Kormentine and
elsewhere to the Royal Adventurers. Although this agreement has not
been found, there was apparently nothing in it which bound the company
to remunerate Crispe and his associates, because later, August, 1662,
he petitioned the king for compensation for the forts and lodges which
had been transferred to the Royal Adventurers. At first the king was
favorable to Crispe's request in view of the service which he had
rendered in building up the Guinea trade.[20] Later, neither the king
nor the Royal Adventurers seem to have paid any attention to Crispe's
plea for compensation.[21]

In later years the report was persistently spread that at the time
when the agreement was made with Crispe the Privy Council had ordered
the Royal Adventurers to pay him L20,000 in lieu of all his interests
on the coast, and that the company had "seemed to acquiesce" in the
order.[22] It does not seem possible that this assertion can be true
in view of the foregoing facts, and of the absolute lack of mention of
any such thing in the books of the company. Over a year later, August
15, 1664, Crispe presented a paper of an unknown character to which
the court of assistants refused to give any notice.[23] It seems
likely that this paper had nothing to do with the African forts, but
that it was submitted in connection with a controversy over some
African goods, which were said to belong to the members of Crispe's
company[24]. The entire lack of any other evidence of trouble between
Crispe and the company leads one to think that no contract for such
compensation was ever made[25]. Moreover, that he was not averse to
the success of the Royal Adventurers is shown by the fact that he
himself subscribed L2,000 in 1663 to the stock of the company[26].

It is unnecessary to follow in detail the number of ships which were
fitted out for the company's trade after it received its second
charter in January, 1663. Suffice it to say that very active measures
were undertaken, especially by the duke of York, who faithfully
attended the weekly meetings of the court of assistants which were
held in his apartments at Whitehall. The earl of Clarendon voiced the
sentiments of these enthusiastic courtier-merchants when he said that,
provi