Part 9

James Wilson, late of Dublin, Mariner.

John Lopez, late of Oporto, Mariner.

Zachariah Long, late of the Province of Holland, Mariner.

Job. Barley, late of London, Mariner.

John William Smith, late of Charles Town in Carolina, Mariner.

Thomas Carman, late of Maidstone in Kent, Mariner.

John Thomas, late of Jamaica, Mariner.

William Morrison, late of Jamaica, Mariner.

Samuel Booth, late of Charles Town, Mariner.

William Howet, late of Jamaica, Mariner.

John Kent, late of North Carolina, Mariner.

William Livres, alias Evis, late of Carolina, Mariner.

John Brierly, alias Timberhead, late of Bath Town in North Carolina, Mariner.

Robert Boyd, late of Bath Town in North Carolina, Mariner.

Thomas Nicholas, late of London, Mariner.

Rowland Sharp, late of Bath Town, Mariner.

Jonathan Clark, late of Charles Town, Mariner.

Thomas Gerrard, late of Antegoa, Mariner.

All of whom, except the four last, were found Guilty, and received Sentence of Death, upon two Indictments, for Robbing upon the High Sea the Francis, Peter Manwaring, Commander; and for seizing, in a Piratical Manner, the Sloop Fortune, Thomas Read, Commander: To which they all pleaded Not Guilty, except James Wilson and John Levit, who pleaded Guilty to both Indictments, and Daniel Piercy to one only. Bonnet moved to go through both the Indictments at once; but the Court overruling it, he was found Guilty of one, and retracted his Plea to the other. They made but little Defence, pretending they were taken off a Maroon Shore, and were shipped with Major Bonnet to go to St. Thomas's, but wanting provisions they were obliged to do what they did; and the Major himself pretended it was Necessity and not Inclination that compelled them to do it. But that not appearing, they having all shared ten or eleven Pounds a man, except the four last, they were all found Guilty. After which the Judge set forth the enormity of their Crimes: And then pronounced Sentence of Death upon the persons aforesaid, except Major Bonnet, who not being brought back in time, was not tried till the 10th of November; and being then also found Guilty, he received Sentence in like manner as the others; before whom Judge Trot made an excellent speech, saying afterwards.

And now, having discharged my Duty as a Christian, I must do my Office as a Judge, which is

You the said Stede Bonnet shall go from hence, to the Place from whence you came, and from thence to the Place of Execution, where you shall be hanged by the Neck till you are dead.

CAPTAIN WILLIAM KID

We are now going to give an account of one whose name is better known in England, than most of those whose histories we have already related; the person we mean is Captain Kid, whose public Trial and Execution here, rendered him the subject of all conversation.

In the beginning of King William's War, Captain Kid commanded a Privateer in the West-Indies, and by several adventurous actions acquired the reputation of a brave man, as well as an experienced seaman. About this time the Pirates were very troublesome in those parts, wherefore Captain Kid was recommended by the Lord Bellamont, then Governor of Barbadoes, as well as by several other persons, to the Government here, as a person very fit to be entrusted with the command of a Government Ship, and to be employed in cruising upon the Pirates, as knowing those Seas perfectly well, and being acquainted with their lurking places; but what reasons governed the politics of those times, I cannot tell, but this proposal met with no encouragement here, though it is certain it would have been of great consequence to the subject, our merchants suffering incredible damages by those robbers.

Upon this neglect the Lord Bellamont, and some others who knew what great captures had been made by the Pirates, and what a prodigious wealth must be in their possession, were tempted to fit out a ship at their own private charge, and to give the command of it to Captain Kid; and to give the thing a greater reputation, as well as to keep their seamen under the better command, they procured the King's Commission for the said Captain Kid.

Captain Kid had also another Commission, which was called a Commission of Reprisals; for it being then War time, this Commission was to justify him in the taking of French Merchant Ships, in case he should meet with any. He sail'd out of Plymouth in May 1696, in the Adventure Galley of thirty guns, and eighty men; the place he first design'd for was New York; in his Voyage thither he took a French Banker, but this was no Act of Piracy, he having a Commission for that purpose, as we have just observed.

When he arrived at New York he put up Articles for engaging more Hands, it being necessary to his Ship's crew, since he proposed to deal with a desperate enemy: The terms he offered were, that every man should have a share of what was taken, reserving for himself and Owners forty shares. Upon this encouragement he soon increas'd his company to a hundred and fifty five men.

With this company he first sail'd for Maderas, where he took in wine and some other necessaries; from thence he proceeded to Bonavist, one of the Cape de Verd Islands, to furnish the ship with salt, and from thence went immediately to St. Jago, another of the Cape de Verd Islands, in order to stock himself with provisions. When all this was done, he bent his course to Madagascar, the known rendezvous of Pirates; in this way he fell in with Captain Warren, Commodore of three Men-of-War; he acquainted them with his design, kept them company two or three days, and then leaving them, made the best way for Madagascar, where he arrived in February 1696, just nine months from his departure from Plymouth.