Kendall, George, one of the original council. The record which has come down to us in regard to this man is not at all flattering, but it must be remembered that he stands convicted on the evidence of his bitter enemies. In the days in which he lived there was no such thing as moderation of expression. He as a cousin of the Earl of Southampton, and the fact that he was appointed in England a member of the council in Virginia shows that he must have been well known in London as a man of experience and courage. Doubtless in Virginia under the terrible stress of circumstances during the first summer there was much to criticise, and the evidence, at least, shows that he was not a man afraid to speak out his mind. George Percy and Wingfield denounced him as a stirrer up of dissensions, and Capt. Smith also speaks of his being driven from the council, which he says was for "divers reasons" and occurred about June 22, 1607. He was afterwards released, though without the privilege of carrying arms, but was again arrested on the statement of one James Read, a smith, who had been condemned to death, and who accused Kendall of conspiring to cause a mutiny. Read was forthwith pardoned and Kendall condemned to be shot. The president at the time was John Ratcliffe, and Kendall, it is said, sought to prevent the execution by claiming that Sicklemore, and not Ratcliffe, was his true name, and that consequently he had no right to pronounce judgment. The practical gentlemen of the time refused, however, to delay justice on any such quibble, and, without attempting any controversy on the subject, merely caused John martin, another councillor to perform the president's office, which he promptly did, and Kendall quickly paid the penalty of his sins.
