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Book of Buried Treasure

<h3> CHAPTER IV </h3> <h4> CAPTAIN KIDD, HIS TRIAL, AND DEATH </h4> As the under dog in a situation where the most powerful influences of England conspired to blacken his name and take his life, Captain William Kidd, even at this late day, deserves to be heard in his own defense. That he was unfairly tried and condemned is admitted by various historians, who, nevertheless, have twisted or overlooked the facts, as if Kidd were, in sooth, a legendary character. This blundering, careless treatment is the more surprising because Kidd was made a political issue of such importance as to threaten the overthrow of a Ministry and the Parliamentary censure of the King himself. At the height of the bitter hostility against Somers, the Whig Lord Chancellor of William III, the Kidd affair presented itself as a ready weapon for the use of his political foes. "About the other patrons of Kidd the chiefs of the opposition cared little," says Macauley.[1] "Bellomont was far removed from the political scene. Romney could not, and Shrewsbury would not play a first part. Orford had resigned his employments. But Somers still held the Great Seal, still presided in the House of Lords, still had constant access to the closet. The retreat of his friends had left him the sole and undisputed head of that party which had, in the late Parliament, been a majority, and which was in the present Parliament outnumbered indeed, disorganized and threatened, but still numerous and respectable. His placid courage rose higher and higher to meet the dangers which threatened him. "In their eagerness to displace and destroy him, they overreached themselves. Had they been content to accuse him of lending his countenance, with a rashness unbecoming his high place, to an ill-concerted scheme, that large part of mankind which judges of a plan simply by the event would probably have thought the accusation well founded. But the malice which they bore to him was not to be so satisfied. They affected to believe that he had from the first been aware of Kidd's character and designs. The Great Seal had been employed to sanction a piratical expedition. The head of the law had laid down a thousand pounds in the hopes of receiving tens of thousands when his accomplices should return laden with the spoils of ruined merchants. It was fortunate for the Chancellor that the calumnies of which he was object were too atrocious to be mischievous. "And now the time had come at which the hoarded ill-humor of six months was at liberty to explode. On the sixteenth of November the House met.... There were loud complaints that the events of the preceding session had been misrepresented to the public, that emissaries of the Court, in every part of the kingdom, declaimed against the absurd jealousies or still more absurd parsimony which had refused to his Majesty the means of keeping up such an army as might secure the country against invasion. Angry resolutions were passed, declaring it to be the opinion of the House that the best way to establish entire confidence between the King and the Estates would be to put a brand on those evil advisers who had dared to breathe in the royal ear calumnies against a faithful Parliament. "An address founded on these resolutions was voted; many thought that a violent rupture was inevitable. But William returned an answer so prudent and gentle that malice itself could not prolong the dispute. By this time, indeed, a new dispute had begun. The address had scarcely been moved when the House called for copies of the papers relating to Kidd's expedition. Somers, conscious of his innocence, knew that it was wise as well as right and resolved that there should be no concealment. "Howe raved like a maniac. 'What is to become of the country, plundered by land, plundered by sea? Our rulers have laid hold of our lands, our woods, our mines, our money. And all this is not enough. We cannot send a cargo to the farthest ends of the earth, but they must send a gang of thieves after it.' Harley and Seymour tried to carry a vote of censure without giving the House time to read the papers. But the general feeling was strongly for a short delay. At length on the sixth of December, the subject was considered in a committee of the whole House. Shower undertook to prove that the letters patent to which Somers had put the Great Seal were illegal. Cowper replied to him with immense applause, and seems to have completely refuted him. "At length, after a debate which lasted from mid-day till nine at night, and in which all the leading members took part, the committee divided on the question that the letters patent were dishonorable to the King, inconsistent with the laws of nations, contrary to the statutes of the realm, and destructive of property and trade. The Chancellor's enemies had felt confident of victory, and made the resolution so strong in order that it might be impossible for him to retain the Great Seal. They soon found that it would have been wise to propose a gentler censure. Great numbers of their adherents, convinced by Cowper's arguments, or unwilling to put a cruel stigma on a man of whose genius and accomplishments the nation was proud, stole away before the doors were closed. To the general astonishment, there were only one hundred and thirty-three Ayes to one hundred and eighty-nine Noes. That the city of London did not consider Somers as the destroyer, and his enemies as the protectors of trade, was proved on the following morning by the most unequivocal of signs. As soon as the news of the triumph reached the Royal Exchange, the price of stocks went up." There is a very rare pamphlet which illuminates the matter in much more detail. It was written and published as a defense of Bellomont and his partners and the very length, elaboration, and heat its argument shows how furiously the political pot was boiling while Kidd was imprisoned in London awaiting his trial. This ex parte production is entitled "A Full Account of the Actions of the Late Famous Pyrate, Captain Kidd, With the Proceedings against Him and a Vindication of the Right Honourable Richard, Earl of Bellomont, Lord Caloony, late Governor of New England, and other Honourable Persons from the Unjust Reflection; Cast upon Them. By a Person of Quality."[2] It is herein recorded that the arguments to support the question moved in Parliament were: "1—That by law the King could not grant the Goods of Pirates, at least, not before conviction. "2—That the Grant was extravagant, for all Goods of Pirates, taken with or by any persons in any part of the world, were granted away. "3—Not only the Goods of the Pirates, but all Goods taken with them were granted, which was illegal, because tho' the Goods were taken by Pirates, the rightful Owners have still a Title to them, Piracy working no change of Property. "5—By this Grant a great Hardship was put upon the Merchants whose Goods might be taken with the Pirates, for they had nowhere to go for Justice. They could not hope for it in the Chancery, the Lord Chancellor being interested; nor at the Board of Admiralty where the Earl of Orford presided; nor from the King, all access to him being by the Duke of Shrewsbury; nor in the Plantations where the Earl of Bellomont was. So the only Judge who the Pirates were, and what goods were theirs, was Captain Kidd himself." Whatsoever may have been wrong with his contract or his commissions, and Parliament sustained them by vote as already mentioned, Captain Kidd cannot be held blameworthy on this score. And it is absurd to call him a premeditated pirate who sailed from Plymouth with evil purpose in his heart. His credentials and endorsements, his record as a shipmaster, and his repute at home, cannot be set aside. They speak for themselves. Nor is it possible to reconcile the character of the man, as he was known by his deeds up to that time, with the charges laid against him. It is worth noting that the complaints made against his conduct in the waters of the Far East came from the East India Company which denounced and proclaimed him as a pirate with a price on his head. It was a case of the pot calling the kettle black. Although the House of Commons had decided five years before that the old Company should no longer have a monopoly of English trade in Asiatic seas, the merchants of London or Bristol dared not fit out ventures to voyage beyond the Cape of Good Hope, and found it necessary to send their goods in the ships that flew the flag of India House. The private trader still ran grave of being treated as a smuggler, if not as a pirate. "He might, indeed, if he was wronged, apply for redress to the tribunals of his country. But years must elapse before his cause could be heard; his witnesses must be conveyed over fifteen thousand miles of sea; and in the meantime he was a ruined man."[3] This powerful corporation which ruled the Eastern seas as it pleased, confiscating the ships and goods of private traders, accused Kidd of seizing two ships with their cargoes which belonged to the Great Mogul, and of several petty depredations hardly to be classed as piracy. The case against him was built up around the two vessels known as the November and the Quedah Merchant. His defense was that on board these prizes he had found French papers, or safe conduct passes made out in the name of the King of France and issued by the French East India Company. He therefore took the ships as lawful commerce of the enemy. The crews of such trading craft as these comprised men of many nations, Arabs, Lascars, Portuguese, French, Dutch, English, Armenian, and Heaven knows what else. The nationality of the skipper, the mate, the supercargo, or the foremast hands had nothing to do with the ownership of the vessel, or the flag under which she was registered, or chartered. The papers found in her cabin determined whether or not she should be viewed as a prize of war, or permitted to go on her way. In order to protect the ship as far as possible, it was not unusual for the master to obtain two sets of papers, to be used as occasion might require, and it is easily possible that the Quedah Merchant, trading with the East India Company, may have taken out French papers, in order to deceive any French privateer or cruiser that might be encountered. Nor did the agents of the East India Company see anything wrong in resorting to such subterfuges. The corner stone of Kidd's defense and justification was these two French passes, which precious documents he had brought home with him, and it was admitted even by his enemies that the production of them as evidence would go far to clear him of the charges of piracy. That they were in his possession when he landed in New England and that Bellomont sent them to the Lords of Plantations in London is stated in a letter quoted in the preceding chapter. The documents then disappeared, their very existence was denied, and Kidd was called a liar to his face, and his memory damned by historians writing later, for trying to save his neck by means of evidence which he was powerless to exhibit. It would appear that these papers were not produced in court because it had been determined that Kidd should be found guilty as a necessary scapegoat. But he told the truth about the French passes, and after remaining among the state papers for more than two centuries, the original of one of them, that found by him aboard the Quedah Merchant, was recently discovered in the Public Record Office by the author of this book, and it is herewith photographed in fac simile. Its purport has been translated as follows: FROM THE KING. WE, FRANCOIS MARTIN ESQUIRE, COUNCILLOR OF THE ROYAL DIRECTOR, Minister of Commerce for the Royal Company of France in the Kingdom of Bengal, the Coast of Coramandel, and other (dependencies). To all those who will see these presents, Greetings: The following, Coja Quanesse, Coja Jacob, Armenian; Nacodas, of the ship Cara Merchant, which the Armenian merchant Agapiris Kalender has freighted in Surate from Cohergy ... having declared to us that before their departure from Surate they had taken a passport from the Company which they have presented to us to be dated from the first of January, 1697, signed Martin and subscribed de Grangemont; that they feared to be molested during the voyage which they had to make from this port to Surate, and alleging that the aforementioned passport is no longer valid, and that for this reason they begged of us urgently to have another sent to them;—For these reasons we recommend and enjoin upon all those under the authority of the Company; we beg the Chiefs of Squadrons and Commanders of Vessels of His Majesty: and we request all the friends and allies of the Crown in nowise to retard the voyage and to render all possible aid and comfort, promising on a similar occasion to do likewise. In testimony of which we have signed these presents, and caused them to be countersigned by the Secretary of the Company, and the seal of his arms placed thereon. MARTIN. (Dated Jan. 16, 1698.) <hr> <center> <ANTIMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-104.jpg" ALT="The French pass or safe conduct paper found by Kidd in the ship Quedah Merchant. This document, which was suppressed by the prosecution, is evidence that the prize was a lawful capture. Kidd vainly begged at his trial that this was another French pass be produced as evidence in his favor." BORDER="2" WIDTH="803" HEIGHT="565"> <H4 CLASS="h4center" STYLE="width: 803px"> The French pass or safe conduct paper found by Kidd in the ship Quedah Merchant. This document, which was suppressed by the prosecution, is evidence that the prize was a lawful capture. Kidd vainly begged at his trial that this was another French pass be produced as evidence in his favor. </h4> </center> <hr> It is reasonable to assume that the Cara Merchant of the passport, is intended to designate the ship in which the document was found by Kidd. In various reports of the episode, the name of the vessel was spelled Quidah, Quedah, Queda and Quedagh. The word is taken from the name of a small native state of the Malay Peninsula, and even to-day it is set down in various ways, as Quedah, Kedda, or Kedah. Other circumstances confirm this supposition and go far to prove that the ship was a lawful prize for an English privateer. During the period between the Revolution and the War of 1812, England confiscated many American merchant vessels in the West Indies under pretexts not a whit more convincing than Kidd's excuse for snapping up the Quedah Merchant. What Kidd himself had to say about this affair is told in his narrative of the voyage as he related it during his preliminary examination while under arrest in Boston. It runs as follows: A Narrative of the Voyage of Capt. William Kidd, Commander of the Adventure Galley, from London to the East Indies. That the Journal of the said Capt. Kidd being violently taken from him in the Port of St. Maries in Madagascar; and his life many times being threatened to be taken away from him by 97 of his men that deserted him there, he cannot give that exact Account he otherwise would have done, but as far as his memory will serve, it is as follows, Vizt: That the said Adventure Galley was launched in Castles Yard at Deptford about the 4th. day of December, 1695, and about the latter end of February the said Galley came to ye buoy in the Nore, and about the first day of March following, his men were pressed from him for the Fleet which caused him to stay there about 19 days, and then sailed for the Downs and arrived there about the 8th or 10th day of April 1696, and sailed thence to Plymouth and on the 23rd. day of the said month of April he sailed from Plymouth on his intended Voyage. And some time in the month of May met with a small French Vessel with Salt and Fishing tackle on board, bound for Newfoundland, which he took and made prize of and carried the same into New York about the 4th day of July where she was condemned as lawful prize, and the produce whereof purchased Provisions for the said Galley for her further intended Voyage. That about the 6th. day of September, 1696, the said Capt. Kidd sailed for the Madeiras in company with one Joyner, Master of a Brigantine belonging to Bermuda, and arrived there about the 8th. day of October following, and thence to Bonavista where they arrived about the 19th. of the said month and took in some Salt and stay'd three or four days and sailed thence to St. Jago and arrived there the 24th, of the said month, where he took in some water and stay'd about 8 or 9 days, and thence sailed for the Cape of Good Hope and in the Latitude of 32, on the 12th day of December, 1696, met with four English men of war whereof Capt. Warren was Commodore and sailed a week in their company, and then parted and sailed to Telere, a port in the Island of Madagascar. And being there about the 29th day of January, there came in a Sloop belonging to Barbadoes loaded with Rum, Sugar, Powder, and Shott, one French, Master, and Mr. Hatton and Mr. John Batt, merchants, and the said Hatton came on board the said Galley and was suddenly taken ill and died in the Cabbin. And about the latter end of February sailed for the Island of Johanna, and the said Sloop keeping company, and arrived thereabout the 18th day of March, where he found four East India merchantmen, outward bound, and watered there all together and stay'd about four days, and from thence about the 22nd day of March sailed for Mehila, an Island ten Leagues distant from Johanna, where he arrived the next morning, and there careened the said Galley, and about fifty men died there in a week's time.[4] And about the 25th day of April, 1697, set sail for the coast of India, and came upon the coast of Malabar, in the beginning of the month of September, and went into Carawar upon that coast about the middle of the same month, and watered there. The Gentlemen of the English Factory gave the Narrator an account that the Portugese were fitting out two men of war to take him, and advised him to set out to sea, and to take care of himself from them, and immediately he set sail therefrom about the 22nd of the said month of September. And the next morning, about break of day, saw the said two men-of-war standing for the said Galley, and they spoke with him and asked him whence he was, who replied from London, and they returned answer from Goa, and so parted, wishing each other a good Voyage. And making still along the coast, the Commodore of the said men-of-war kept dogging the said Galley at night, waiting an opportunity to board the same, and in the morning without speaking a word fired six great guns at the Galley, some whereof went through her and wounded four of his men. And therefore he fired upon him again, and the fight continued all day, and the Narrator had eleven men wounded. The other Portugese men of war lay some distance off, and could not come up with the Galley, being calm, else would have likewise assaulted the same. The said fight was sharp and the said Portugese left the said Galley with such satisfaction that the Narrator believes no Portugese will ever attack the King's Colours again, in that part of the World especially. Afterwards continued upon the said coast till the beginning of the month of November 1697 cruising upon the Cape of Cameroon for Pyrates that frequent that coast. Then he met with Capt. How in the Loyal Captain, a Dutch Ship belonging to Madras, bound to Surat whom he examined and finding his pass good, designed freely to let her pass about her affairs. But having two Dutchmen on board, they told the Narrator's men that they had divers Greeks and Armenians on board who had divers precious Stones and other rich goods, which caused his men to be very mutinous, and they got up their Arms, and swore they would take the Ship. The Narrator told them the small arms belonged to the Galley, and that he was not come to take any Englishmen or lawful Traders, and that if they attempted any such thing, they should never come on board the Galley again, nor have the boat or small arms, for he had no Commission to take any but the King's Enemies and Pyrates and that he would attack them with the Galley and drive them into Bombay, (the other Vessel being a Merchantman, and having no guns, they might easily have done it with a few hands). With all the arguments and menaces he could use, he could scarce restrain them from their unlawful design, but at last prevail'd and with much ado got him clear and let him go about his business. All of which Captain How will attest if living. And about the 18th. or 19th day of the said month of November met with a Moors' Ship of about 200 Tons coming from Surat, bound to the Coast of Malabar, loaded with two horses, Sugar and Cotton, having about 40 Moors on board with a Dutch Pylot, Boatswain, and Gunner, which said Ship the Narrator hailed, and commanded (the Master) on board and with him came 8 or 9 Moors and the said three Dutchmen, who declared it was a Moors' {109} ship, and he (the Narrator) demanding their Pass from Surat which they showed and the same was a French Pass which he believed was showed by mistake, for the Pylot swore by Sacrament she was a Prize and staid on board the Galley and would not return again on board the Moors' Ship but went in the Galley to the port of St. Maries. And that about the first day of February following, upon the same coast, under French Colours with a designe to decoy, met a Bengali merchantman[5] belonging to Surat, of the burthen of 4 or 500 tons, 10 guns, and he commanded the master on board, and a Frenchman, Inhabitant of Surat and belonging to the French Factory there and Gunner of said ship, came on board as Master, and when he came on board the Narrator caused the English Colours to be hoysted, and the said Master was surprised, and said "You are all English," and asked which was the Captain, whom when he (the Frenchman) saw, he said, "Here is a good prize" and delivered him the French pass. And that with the said two Prizes, he (the Narrator) sailed for the Port of St. Maries in Madagascar, and sailing thither the Galley was so leaky that they feared she would have sunk every hour, and it required eight men every two glasses to keep her free, and they were forced to woold her round with Cables to keep her together, and with much ado carried her into port.... And about the 6th day of May, the lesser Prize was haled into the careening island or key (the other not having arrived), and ransacked and sunk by the mutinous men who threatened the Narrator and the men that would not join with them, to burn and sink the other Ship that they might not go home and tell the news. And that when he arrived in the said port, there was a Pyrate Ship, called the Moca Frigat, at an Anchor, Robert Culliford, Commander thereof, who with his men left the same and ran into the woods, and the Narrator proposed to his men to take the same, having sufficient power and authority so to do, but the mutinous crew told him if he offered the same they would rather fire two guns into him than one into the other; and thereupon 97 deserted and went into the Moca Frigat, and sent into the woods for the said Pyrates and brought the said Culliford and his men on board again. And all the time she (the Moca Frigat) staid in the said Port, which was for the space of 4 or 5 days, the said deserters, sometimes in great numbers, came on board the Adventure Galley and her prize and carried away the great gun, powder, shot, arms, sails, anchors, etc., and what they pleased, and threatened several times to murder the Narrator (as he was informed and advised to take care of himself), which they designed in the night to effect, but was prevented by his locking himself in his Cabbin and securing himself with barricading the same with bales of Goods, and having about forty Small arms besides Pistols ready charged, kept them out. Their wickedness was so great that after they had plundered and ransacked sufficiently, they went four miles off to one Edward Welche's house where his (the Narrator's) chest was lodged, and broke it open and took out 10 ounces of gold, forty pounds of plate, 370 pieces of eight, the Narrator's Journal, and a great many papers that belonged to him, and to the people of New Yorke that fitted him out. That about the 15th day of June the Moca Frigate went away, being manned with about 130 men and forty guns, bound out to take all Nations. Then it was that the Narrator was left with only about 13 men, so that the Moors he had to pump and keep the Adventure Galley above water being carried away, she sank in the Harbour, and the Narrator with the said Thirteen men went on board of the Adventure's Prize where he was forced to stay five months for a fair wind. In the meantime some Passengers presented themselves that were bound for these parts, which he took on board to help to bring the said Adventure's Prize[6] home. That about the beginning of April 1699, the Narrator arrived at Anguilla in the West Indies and sent his boat on shore where his men heard the News that he and his People were proclaimed Pirates, which put them into such a Consternation that they sought all opportunities to run the Ship on shore upon some reefs or shoal, fearing the Narrator should carry them into some English port. From Anguilla, they came to St. Thomas where his brother-in-law, Samuel Bradley, was put on shore, being sick, and five more went away and deserted him. There he heard the same News, that the Narrator and his Company were proclaimed Pirates, which incensed the people more and more. From St. Thomas set sail for Mona, an Island between Hispaniola and Porto Rico, where they met with a Sloop called the St. Anthony, bound for Antigua from Curacoa, Mr. Henry Bolton, Merchant, and Samuel Wood, Master. The men on board then swore they would bring the ship no farther. The Narrator then sent the said Sloop, St. Anthony, to Curacoa for canvas to make sails for the Prize, she being not able to proceed, and she returned in 10 days, and after the canvas came he could not persuade the men to carry her for New England. Six of the men went and carried their Chests and things on board of two Dutch Sloops bound for Curacoa, and would not so much as heel the Vessel or do anything. The remainder of the men, not being able to bring the Adventure Prize to Boston, the Narrator secured her in a good safe harbour in some part of Hispaniola and left her in the possession of M. Henry Bolton of Antigua, Merchant, and the Master, and three of the old men, and 15 or 16 of the men that belonged to the said sloop, St. Anthony, and a Brigantine belonging to one Burt of Curacoa. That the Narrator bought the said Sloop, St. Anthony, of Mr. Bolton, for the Owners' account, after he had given directions to the said Bolton to be careful of the Ship and lading and persuaded him to stay three months till he returned. And he then made the best of his way for New York where he heard the Earl of Bellomont was, who was principally concerned in the Adventure Galley, and hearing his Lordship was at Boston, came thither and has now been 45 days from the said Ship. Further, the Narrator saith that the said ship was left at St. Katharine on the southeast part of Hispaniola, about three Leagues to leeward of the westerly end of Savano. Whilst he lay at Hispaniola he traded with Mr. Henry Bolton of Antigua and Mr. William Burt of Curacoa, Merchants, to the value of Eleven Thousand Two Hundred Pieces of Eight, whereof he received the Sloop Antonio at 3000 Ps. of eight, and Four Thousand Two Hundred Ps. of Eight in Bills of Lading drawn by Bolton and Burt upon Messers. Gabriel and Lemont, Merchants, in Curacoa, made payable to Mr. Burt who went himself to Curacoa, and the value of Four Thousand Pieces of Eight more in dust and bar gold. Which gold, with some more traded for at Madagascar, being Fifty pounds weight or upwards in quantity, the Narrator left in custody of Mr. Gardiner of Gardiner's Island, near the eastern end of Long Island, fearing to bring it about by sea. It is made up in a bagg put into a little box, lockt and nailed, corded about and sealed. The Narrator saith he took no receipt for it of Mr. Gardiner. The gold that was seized at Mr. Campbell's, the Narrator traded for at Madagascar, with what came out of the Galley. He saith that he carried in the Adventure Galley from New York 154 men, seventy whereof came out of England with him. Some of his Sloop's company put two bails of Goods on store at Gardiner's Island, being their own property. The Narrator delivered a chest of Goods, Vizt; Muslins, Latches, Romals, and flowered silk unto Mr. Gardiner of Gardiner's Island to be kept there for him. He put no goods on shore anywhere else. Several of his company landed their Chests and other goods at several places. Further saith he delivered a small bail of coarse callicoes unto a Sloopman of Rhode Island that he had employed there. The Gold seized at Mr. Campbell's, the Narrator intended for presents to some that he expected to do him kindness. Some of his company put their Chests and bails on board a New York Sloop lying at Gardiner's Island. WM. KIDD. Presented and taken die prædict before his Exc'y and Council Addington, Sec'y. More than a year after Kidd had been carried to England with twelve of his crew, he was arraigned for trial at the Old Bailey. Meantime Lord Bellomont had died in Boston. Trials for piracy were common enough, but this accused shipmaster was confronted by such an array of titled big-wigs and court officials as would have been sufficient to try the Lord Chancellor himself. For the government, the Lord Chief Baron, Sir Edward Ward, presided, and with him sat Sir Henry Hatsell, Baron of the Exchequer; Sir Salathiel Lovell, the Recorder of London; Sir John Turton and Sir Henry Gould, Justices of the King's Bench, and Sir John Powell, a Justice of the Common Pleas. As counsel for the prosecution, there was the Solicitor General, Dr. Oxenden; Mr. Knapp, Mr. Coniers, and Mr. Campbell. For Captain William Kidd, there was no one. By the law of England at that time, a prisoner tried on a criminal charge could employ no counsel and was permitted to have no legal advice, except only when a point of law was directly involved. Kidd had been denied all chance to muster witnesses or assemble documents, and, at that, the court was so fearful of failing to prove the charges of piracy that it was decided to try him first for killing his gunner, William Moore, and convicting him of murder. He would be as conveniently dead if hanged for the one crime as for the other. Now, it is not impossible that Kidd had clean forgotten that trifling episode of William Moore. For a commander to knock down a seaman guilty of disrespect or disobedience was as commonplace as eating. The offender was lucky if he got off no worse. Discipline in the naval and merchant services was barbarously severe. Sailors died of flogging or keelhauling, or of being triced up by the thumbs for the most trifling misdemeanors. As for Moore, he was a mutineer, and an insolent rogue besides, who had stirred up trouble in the crew, and nothing would have been said to any other skipper than Kidd for shooting him or running him through. However, let the testimony tell its own story. After the Grand Jury had returned the bill of indictment for murder, the Clerk of Arraignment said: "William Kidd, hold up thy hand." With a pluck and persistence which must have had a certain pathetic dignity, Kidd began to object. "May it please your Lordship, I desire you to permit me to have counsel." The Recorder. "What would you have counsel for?" Kidd. "My Lord, I have some matters of law relating to the indictment, and I desire I may have counsel to speak to it." Dr. Oxenden. "What matter of law can you have?" Clerk of Arraignment. "How does he know what he is charged with? I have not told him." The Recorder. "You must let the Court know what these matters of law are before you can have counsel assigned you." Kidd. "They be matters of law, my Lord." The Recorder. "Mr. Kidd, do you know what you mean by matters of law?" Kidd. "I know what I mean. I desire to put off my trial as long as I can, till I can get my evidence ready." The Recorder: "Mr. Kidd, you had best mention the matter of law you would insist on." Dr. Oxenden. "It cannot be matter of law to put off your trial, but matter of fact." Kidd. "I desire your Lordship's favor. I desire that Dr. Oldish and Mr. Lemmon here be heard as to my case (indicating lawyers present in court)." Clerk of Arraignment. "What can he have counsel for before he has pleaded?" The Recorder. "Mr. Kidd, the Court tells you it shall be heard what you have to say when you have pleaded to your indictment. If you plead to it, if you will, you may assign matter of law, if you have any, but then you must let the Court know what you would insist on." Kidd. "I beg your Lordship's patience, till I can procure my papers. I had a couple of French passes which I must make use of, in order to my justification." The Recorder. "This is not matter of law. You have had long notice of your trial, and might have prepared for it. How long have you had notice of your trial?" Kidd. "A matter of a fortnight." Dr. Oxenden. "Can you tell the names of any persons that you would make use of in your defense?" Kidd. "I sent for them, but I could not have them." Dr. Oxenden. "Where were they then?" Kidd. "I brought them to my Lord Bellomont in New England." The Recorder. "What were their names? You cannot tell without book. Mr. Kidd, the Court sees no reason to put off your trial, therefore you must plead." Clerk of Arraignment. "William Kidd, hold up thy hand." Kidd. "I beg your Lordship I may have counsel admitted, and that my trial may be put off, I am not really prepared for it." The Recorder. "Nor never will, if you could help it." Dr. Oxenden. "Mr. Kidd, you have had reasonable notice, and you know you must be tried, and therefore you cannot plead you are not ready." Kidd. "If your Lordships permit those papers to be read, they will justify me. I desire my counsel may be heard." Mr. Coniers. "We admit of no counsel for him." The Recorder. "There is no issue joined, and therefore there can be no counsel assigned. Mr. Kidd, you must plead." Kidd. "I cannot plead till I have those papers that I insisted upon." Mr. Lemmon. "He ought to have his papers delivered to him, because they are very material for his defense. He has endeavored to have them, but could not get them." Mr. Coniers. "You are not to appear for anyone, (Mr. Lemmon) till he pleads, and that the Court assigns you for his counsel." The Recorder. "They would only put off the trial." Mr. Coniers. "He must plead to the indictment." Clerk of Arraignment. "Make silence." Kidd. "My papers are all seized, and I cannot make my defense without them. I desire my trial may be put off till I can have them." The Recorder. "The Court is of opinion that they ought not to stay for all your evidence; it may be they will never come. You must plead; and then if you can satisfy the Court that there is a reason to put off the trial, you may." Kidd. "My Lord, I have business in law, and I desire counsel." The Recorder. "The course of Courts is, when you have pleaded, the matter of trial is next; if you can then show there is cause to put off the trial, you may, but now the matter is to plead." Kidd. "It is a hard case when all these things shall be kept from me, and I am forced to plead." The Recorder. "If he will not plead, there must be judgment." Kidd. "Would you have me plead and not have my vindication by me?" Clerk of Arraignment. "Will you plead to the indictment?" Kidd. "I would beg that I may have my papers for my vindication." It is very obvious that up to this point Kidd was concerned only with the charges of piracy, and attached no importance to the fact that he had been indicted for the murder of his gunner. Regarding the matter of the French passes, Kidd was desperately in earnest. He knew their importance, nor was he begging for them as a subterfuge to gain time. He had been employed as a privateering commander against the French in the West Indies and on the New England coast, as the documents of the Provincial Government have already shown. It is fair to assume that he knew the rules of the game and the kind of papers necessary to make a prize a lawful capture by the terms of the English privateering commission which he held. But his efforts to introduce this evidence which had been secured by Bellomont and forwarded to the authorities in London, were of no avail. Compelled to plead to the indictment for murder, Kidd swore that he was not guilty, and the trial then proceeded under the direction of Lord Chief Baron Ward. Dr. Oldish, who sought to be assigned, with Mr. Lemmon, as counsel for the prisoner, was not to be diverted from the main issue, and he boldly struck in. "My Lord, it is very fit his trial should be delayed for some time because he wants some papers very necessary for his defense. It is very true he is charged with piracies in several ships, but they had French passes when the seizure was made. Now, if there were French passes, it was a lawful seizure." Mr. Justice Powell. "Have you those passes?" Kidd. "They were taken from me by my Lord Bellomont, and these passes would be my defense." Dr. Oldish. "If those ships that he took had French passes, there was just cause of seizure, and it will excuse him from piracy." Kidd. "They were taken from me by my Lord Bellomont and those passes show there was just cause of seizure. That we will prove as clear as the day." The Lord Chief Baron. "What ship was that which had the French passes?" Mr. Lemmon. "The same he was in; the same he is indicted for." Clerk of Arraignment. "Let all stand aside but Captain Kidd. William Kidd, you are now to be tried on the Bill of Murder; the jury is going to be sworn. If you have any cause of exception, you may speak to them as they come to the Book." Kidd. "I challenge none. I know nothing to the contrary but they are honest men." The first witness for the Crown was Joseph Palmer, of the Adventure Galley (who had been captured by Bellomont in Rhode Island and who had informed him of the incident of the death of Moore, the gunner). He testified as follows: "About a fortnight before this accident fell out, Captain Kidd met with a ship on that coast (Malabar) that was called the Loyal Captain. And about a fortnight after this, the gunner was grinding a chisel aboard the Adventure, on the high seas, near the coast of Malabar in the East Indies." Mr. Coniers. "What was the gunner's name!" Palmer. "William Moore. And Captain Kidd came and walked on the deck, and walked by this Moore, and when he came to him, says, 'How could you have put me in a way to take this ship (Loyal Captain) and been clear?' 'Sir,' says William Moore, 'I never spoke such a word, nor thought such a thing.' Upon which Captain Kidd called him a lousie dog. And says William Moore, 'If I am a lousie dog, you have made me so. You have brought me to ruin and many more.' Upon him saying this, says Captain Kidd, 'Have I ruined you, ye dog?' and took a bucket bound with iron hoops and struck him on the right side of the head, of which he died next day." Mr. Coniers. "Tell my Lord what passed next after the blow." Palmer. "He was let down the gun-room, and the gunner said 'Farewell, Farewell! Captain Kidd has given me my last.' And Captain Kidd stood on the deck and said, 'You're a villain.'" Robert Bradingham, who had been the surgeon of the Adventure Galley, then testified that the wound was small but that the gunner's skull had been fractured. Mr. Cooper. "Had you any discourse with Captain Kidd after this, about the man's death?" Bradingham. "Some time after this, about two months, by the coast of Malabar, Captain Kidd said, 'I do not care so much for the death of my gunner, as for other passages of my voyage, for I have good friends in England, who will bring me off for that.'" With this, the prosecution rested, and the Lord Chief Baron addressed Kidd. "Then you may make your defense. You are charged with murder, and you have heard the evidence that has been given. What have you to say for yourself?" Kidd. "I have evidence to prove it is no such thing, if they may be admitted to come hither. My Lord, I will tell you what the case was. I was coming up within a league of the Dutchman (the Loyal Captain), and some of my men were making a mutiny about taking her, and my gunner told the people he could put the captain in a way to take the ship and be safe. Says I, 'How will you do that?' The gunner answered, 'We will get the captain and men aboard.' 'And what then?' 'We will go aboard the ship and plunder her and we will have it under their hands that we did not take her.' Says I, 'This is Judas-like. I dare not do such a thing.' Says he, 'We may do it. We are beggars already.' 'Why,' says I, 'may we take the ship because we are poor?' Upon this a mutiny arose, so I took up a bucket and just throwed it at him, and said 'You are a rogue to make such a notion.' This I can prove, my Lord." Thereupon Kidd called Abel Owens, one of his sailors, and asked him: "Can you tell which way this bucket was thrown?" Mr. Justice Powell (to Owens). "What was the provocation for throwing the bucket?" Owens. "I was in the cook-room, and hearing some difference on the deck, I came out, and the gunner was grinding a chisel on the grind-stone, and the captain and he had some words, and the gunner said to the captain, 'You have brought us to ruin, and we are desolate.' 'And,' says he, (the captain) 'have I brought you to ruin? I have not brought you to ruin. I have not done an ill thing to ruin you; you are a saucy fellow to give me these words.' And then he took up the bucket, and did give him the blow." Kidd. "Was there a mutiny among the men?" Owens. "Yes, and the bigger part was for taking the ship, and the captain said, 'You that will take the Dutchman, you are the strongest, you may do what you please. If you will take her, you may take her, but if you go from aboard here, you shall never come aboard again.'" The Lord Chief Baron. "When was this mutiny you speak of?" Owens. "When we were at sea, about a month before this man's death." Kidd. "Call Richard Barlicorn." (Barlicorn was an apprentice who has been mentioned in the inventory of the Sloop San Antonio.) Kidd. "What was the reason the blow was given to the gunner?" Barlicorn. "At first, when you met with the ship (Loyal Captain) there was a mutiny, and two or three of the Dutchmen came aboard, and some said she was a rich vessel, and they would take her. And the captain (Kidd) said, 'No, I will not take her,' and there was a mutiny in the ship, and the men said, 'If you will not, we will.' And he said, 'If you have a mind, you may, but they that will not, come along with me.'" Kidd. "Do you think William Moore was one of those that was for taking her?" Barlicorn. "Yes. And William Moore lay sick a great while before this blow was given, and the doctor said when he visited him, that this blow was not the cause of his death." The Lord Chief Baron. "Then they must be confronted. Do you hear, Bradingham, what he says?" Bradingham. "I deny this." As for this surgeon, Kidd swore that he had been a drunken, useless idler who would lay in the hold for weeks at a time. Seaman Hugh Parrott was then called and asked by Kidd: "Do you know the reason why I struck Moore?" Parrott. "Yes, because you did not take the Loyal Captain, whereof Captain How was commander." The Lord Chief Baron. "Was that the reason that he struck Moore, because this ship was not taken?" Parrott. "I shall tell you how this happened, to the best of my knowledge. My commander fortuned to come up with this Captain How's ship and some were for taking her, and some not. And afterwards there was a little sort of mutiny, and some rose in arms, the greater part; and they said they would take the ship. And the commander was not for it, and so they resolved to go away in the boat and take her. Captain Kidd said, 'If you desert my ship, you shall never come aboard again, and I will force you into Bombay, and I will carry you before some of the Council there.' Inasmuch that my commander stilled them again and they remained on board. And about a fortnight afterwards, there passed some words between this William Moore and my commander, and then, says he (Moore), 'Captain, I could have put you in a way to have taken this ship and been never the worse for it.' He says, (Kidd), 'Would you have had me take this ship? I cannot answer it. They are our friends,' and with that I went off the deck, and I understood afterwards the blow was given, but how I cannot tell." Kidd. "I have no more to say, but I had all the provocation in the world given me. I had no design to kill him. I had no malice or spleen against him." The Lord Chief Baron. "That must be left to the jury to consider the evidence that has been given. You make out no such matter." Kidd. "It was not designedly done, but in my passion, for which I am heartily sorry." Kidd was permitted to introduce no evidence as to his previous good reputation, and the Court concluded that it had heard enough. Lord Chief Baron Ward thereupon delivered himself of an exceedingly adverse charge to the jury, virtually instructing them to find the prisoner guilty of murder, which was promptly done. Having made sure of sending him to Execution Dock, the Court then proceeded to try him for piracy, which seems to have been a superfluous and unnecessary pother. Kidd declared, when this second trial began: "It is vain to ask any questions. It is hard that the life of one of the King's subjects should be taken away upon the perjured oaths of such villains as these (Bradingham and Palmer). Because I would not yield to their wishes and turn pirate, they now endeavor to prove I was one. Bradingham is saving his life to take away mine." The Crown proved the capture of the two ships belonging to the Great Mogul, and an East Indian merchant, representing the merchants, testified as to the value of the lading and the regularity of the ship's papers. Kidd challenged this evidence, and once more pleaded with the Court that he be allowed to bring forward the French passes. He asserted that the Quedah Merchant had a French Commission, and that her master was a tavern keeper of Surat. That he told the truth, the accompanying photograph of the said document bears belated witness. The Lord Chief Baron put his finger on the weak point of the case by asking to know why Kidd had not taken the ship to port to be lawfully condemned as a prize, as demanded by the terms of his commission from the King. To this Kidd replied that his crew were mutinous, and the Adventure Galley unseaworthy, for which reasons he made for the nearest harbor of Madagascar. There his men, to the number of ninety odd, mutinied and went over to the pirate Culliford in the Mocha Frigate. He was left short-handed, his own ship was unfit to take to sea, so he burned her, and transferred to the Quedah Merchant, after which he steered straight for Boston to deliver her prize to Lord Bellomont, which he would have done had he not learned in the West Indies that he had been proclaimed a pirate. Edward Davis, mariner, confirmed the statement regarding the French passes, in these words: "I came home a passenger from Madagascar and from thence to Amboyna, and there he (Kidd) sent his boat ashore, and there was one that said Captain Kidd was published a pirate in England, and Captain Kidd gave those passes to him to read. The Captain said they were French passes." Kidd. "You heard that one, Captain Elms, say they were French passes?" Davis. "Yes, I heard Captain Elms say they were French passes." Mr. Baron Hatsell. "Have you any more to say, Captain Kidd?" Kidd. "I have some papers, but my Lord Bellomont keeps them from me, so that I cannot bring them before the Court!" Bradingham and other members of the crew admitted that they understood from Kidd that the captured ships were sailing under French passes. Kidd, having been convicted of murder, was now allowed to fetch in witnesses as to his character as a man and a sailor previous to the fatal voyage. One Captain Humphrey swore that he had known Capt. Kidd in the West Indies twelve years before. "You had a general applause," said he, "for what you had done from time to time." The Lord Chief Baron. "That was before he was turned pirate." Captain Bond then declared: "I know you were very useful at the beginning of the war in the West Indies." Colonel Hewson put the matter more forcibly and made no bones of telling the Court: "My Lord, he was a mighty man there. He served under my command there. He was sent to me by the order of Colonel Codrington." The Solicitor General. "How long was this ago?" Colonel Hewson. "About nine years ago. He was with me in two engagements against the French, and fought as well as any man I ever saw, according to the proportion of his men. We had six Frenchmen (ships) to deal with, and we had only mine and his ship." Kidd. "Do you think I was a pirate?" Colonel Hewson. "I knew his men would have gone a-pirating, and he refused it, and his men seized upon his ship; and when he went this last voyage, he consulted with me, and told me they had engaged him in such an expedition. And I told him that he had enough already and might be content with what he had. And he said that was his own inclination, but Lord Bellomont told him if he did not go the voyage there were great men who would stop his brigantine in the river if he did not go." Thomas Cooper. "I was aboard the Lyon in the West Indies and this Captain Kidd brought his ship from a place that belonged to the Dutch and brought her into the King's service at the beginning of the war, about ten years ago. And he took service under the Colonel (Hewson), and we fought Monsieur Du Cass a whole day, and I thank God we got the better of him. And Captain Kidd behaved very well in the face of his enemies." It may be said also for Captain William Kidd that he behaved very well in the face of the formidable battery of legal adversaries. As a kind of afterthought, the jury found him guilty of piracy along with several of his crew, Nichols Churchill, James How, Gabriel Loiff, Hugh Parrott, Abel Owens, and Darby Mullins. Three of those indicted were set free, Richard Barlicorn, Robert Lumley, and William Jenkins, because they were able to prove themselves to have been bound seamen apprentices, duly indentured to officers of the ship who were responsible for their deeds. Before sentence was passed on him, Kidd said to the Court: "My Lords, it is a very hard judgment. For my part I am the most innocent person of them all." Execution Dock long since vanished from old London, but tradition has survived along the waterfront of Wapping to fix the spot, and the worn stone staircase known as the "Pirates' Stairs," still leads down to the river, and down these same steps walked Captain William Kidd. The Gentleman's Magazine (London) for 1796 describes the ancient procedure, just as it had befallen Captain Kidd and his men: "Feb. 4th. This morning, a little after ten o'clock, Colley, Cole, and Blanche, the three sailors convicted of the murder of Captain Little, were brought out of Newgate, and conveyed in solemn procession to Execution Dock, there to receive the punishment awarded by law. On the cart on which they rode was an elevated stage; on this were seated Colley, the principal instigator in the murder, in the middle, and his two wretched instruments, the Spaniard Blanche, and the Mulatto Cole, on each side of him; and behind, on another seat, two executioners. "Colley seemed in a state resembling that of a man stupidly intoxicated, and scarcely awake, and the two discovered little sensibility on this occasion, nor to the last moment of their existence, did they, as we hear, make any confession. They were turned off about a quarter before twelve in the midst of an immense crowd of spectators. On the way to the place of execution, they were preceded by the Marshall of the Admiralty in his carriage, the Deputy Marshall, bearing the silver oar, and the two City Marshals on horseback, Sheriff's officers, etc. The whole cavalcade was conducted with great solemnity." John Taylor, "the water poet," who lived in the time of Captain Kidd, wrote these doleful lines, which may serve as a kind of obituary: "There are inferior Gallowses which bear, (According to the season) twice a year; And there's a kind of waterish tree at Wapping Where sea-thieves or pirates are catched napping." Kidd's body, covered with tar and hung in chains, was gibbeted on the shore of the reach of the Thames hard by Tilbury Fort, as was the customary manner of displaying dead pirates by way of warning to passing seamen. His treasure was confiscated by the Crown, and what was left of it, after the array of legal gentlemen had been paid their fees, was turned over to Greenwich Hospital by act of Parliament. <hr> <center> <ANTIMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-128.jpg" ALT="Kidd hanging in chains. (From The Pirates' Own Book.)" BORDER="2" WIDTH="861" HEIGHT="546"> <H4 CLASS="h4center" STYLE="width: 861px"> Kidd hanging in chains. (From The Pirates' Own Book.) "The Pirates' Stairs" leading to the site of Execution Dock at Wapping where Kidd was hanged. The old stone steps are visible beneath the modern iron bridge. </h4> </center> <hr> Thus lived and died a man, who, whatever may have been his faults, was unfairly dealt with by his patrons, misused by his rascally crew, and slandered by credulous posterity. [1] History of England. [2] Published in 1701. [3] Macauley. [4] "From hence putting off to the West Indies, wee were not many dayes at sea, but there beganne among our people such mortalitie as in fewe days there were dead above two or three hundred men. And until some seven or eight dayes after our coming from S. Iago, there had not died any one man of sickness in all the fleete; the sickness shewed not his infection wherewith so many were stroken until we were departed thence, and then seazed our people with extreme hot burning and continuall agues, whereof very fewe escaped with life, and yet those for the most part not without great alteration and decay of their wittes and strength for a long time after."—Hakluyt's Voyages.—(A Summarie and True Discourse of Sir Francis Drake's West Indian voyage begun in the Year 1585.) [5] The Quedah Merchant. [6] The Quedah Merchant. <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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