320 ISLES OF SUMMER. 
claimed to have first discovered, they would have occupied a 
more enviable position, for while the grant would have added 
nothing to their income, it could not possibly have impoverished 
or annoyed them. This pestiferous nest of pirates had only 
served as a burial place for their money and their hopes. 
The British government finally, in the interest and for the 
security of commerce, bought the title of the legal representatives 
of the six proprietary interests, giving for each £2,000. 
Upon the petition of the merchants of London and Bristol, 
interested in the security of commerce, King George I appointed 
Mr. Ward Rogers Governor, and sent him with a force of one 
hundred men and an ample supply of all necessary stores to fortify 
New Providence. He arrived out in 1717, and an act of indem- 
nity having been passed, the pirates accepted of its terms, sur- 
' rendered without a struggle, and became, thereafter, down to 
1742, when Bruce wrote, “ the principal inhabitants of the island.” 
According to Mr. Mosely, the gubernatorial office was filled by 
Mr. Rogers from 1717 to 1721, and from 1728 to 1733; George 
Phenny or Finney was Governor during the intervening years. 
The population did not exceed 1,000 persons. 
During this period of sixteen years the executive office seems 
to have been well filled, and peace, security and confidence pre- 
vailed, so that many families, besides many Palatines, settled and 
made improvements upon the islands. 
In 1733 Richard Fitz Williams was appointed Governor, and 
with ample stores, a force of fifty men, and an engineer named 
Thomas Moore, arrived at New Providence, with special directions 
to fortify the place. This new colonial Governor was arbitrary 
and tyrannical, and so abused his power that ‘the best of the 
inhabitants and all the Palatines abandoned their improvements 
and left the island.” The engineer died suddenly before he had 
made much progress in his work. In the bad business of oppress- 
