CAPTAIN KIDD, HIS TRIAL, AND DEATH
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.)
======================================================================
[Illustration: 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.]
======================================================================
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 praedict_
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.
======================================================================
[Illustration: 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.
======================================================================
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_.