GEORGE JOHNSTON. Notar. Public.
JOSEPH HALL.
WILLIAM CROMIE.
[Footnote 1: "Skibbereen is a small market town, where the Collector,
Surveyor, and other Officers of the port of Baltimore reside",
(_i.e._, since the destruction of Baltimore by the Barbary corsairs in
1631). Ch. Smith, _Antient and Present State of the County and City of
Cork_ (Dublin, 1750), I. 280. Hence Mackay would go there to make this
declaration of damage by storm, called in maritime law a protest.]
[Footnote 2: See doc. no. 135, note 1.]
_137. Extract from Capt. Mackay's Journal. November 16, 1739._[1]
[Footnote 1: The heading which the document bears in the admiralty
court records.]
From Yesterday at 6 in the Evening to this Morning at 8 a Clock I have
been in continual Dread by reason of some Shabby Gent'n who staid on
Board at Night and frequently seem'd to hint Concerning Money, of
which I had indeed a large quantity but pleaded Poverty to them, but
to my great Surprize at One in the Morning I found my own People
Deserting of Me and had already sent one Chest on Shore, thereupon I
immediately threatnd to Kill the first that would attempt to leave Me
in that Distress. Fear kept them Aboard.
_138. Certificate of Clearance. December 4, 1739._
PORT CORK,
Know Ye, That Will'm Winthrop[1] enter'd on the _Amsterdam Post_ of
Amsterdam, AEneas Mackay Master, for Madera, Sixty Bar'ls Beef,[2] One
hundred and ten F'kins cont[aining] Fifty seven hundred wt Butter,
Seventy Boxes cont[aining] Thirty five hundred wt Candles, One hundred
eighty Tann'd Hides and Forty Ters[3] Pilchers. Custom paid. Witness
our Hands and Seals of Office the 4th of Decemb'r 1739.
RICH'D FENTON,
Coll.
WILL. DOBBIN,
Dep'y [Cudr?] and Coll'r.
Endorsed 1739 Xbr[4] 7th Exam'd per Ben Roberts, Ld. Wt.,[5]
Cove Dec'r 11, 1739 Exam'd per Rich'd Toler, [Scr.][6]
[Footnote 1: Sheriff of the city of Cork in 1741, mayor in 1744. He
was descended from an uncle of Governor John Winthrop.]
[Footnote 2: "For packing, salting, and barreling beef, this city
gives place to no other in Europe." Exports in 1743, 86951 barrels of
beef, and similar amounts of butter, hides, and tallow. It was a place
of 70,000 inhabitants, and the customs revenues were L50,000. Smith,
_Cork_, I. 412, 410, 407.]
[Footnote 3: Tierces; the libel (doc. no. 128) says forty barrels.]
[Footnote 4: December.]
[Footnote 5: Landwaiter.]
[Footnote 6: Qu. Sur., for surveyor?]
_139. Declarations of Sailors. 1740._
I Do Declare that I am a Servant to the Captain of the Sloop
_Amsterdam_ and has been about Twenty Months, and in the Mean time has
been four Voyages betwixt Canaries and Amsterdam, and the last Voyage
We went to Cork and from thence I always thought We was going to
Teneriffe, hearing all our Men Say the was Shipped for that Place, and
am willing to give my oath if occasion. As Witness my Hand
WILLIAM YOUNGER.
I Do Declare that I was Shipped in the City of Corke by Capt. Aeneas
Mackay in the Sloop _Amsterdam Packett_, bound to Teneriffe and from
thence if the Captain thought proper to Cork and Amsterdam, and to
receive Thirty three shillings per month Irish Money, which I will
give my oath if occasion, which I have here sett my Hand.
his
DARBY [wavy line] SHE.
mark
I Do declare that I was Shipt by Capt. AEneas Mackay in the Sloop
_Amsterdam_ to the Island of Teneriffe and to receive fourteen Gilders
per month. We proceed[ed] our Voyage, but before We Sailed from thence
he told us he was bound to Cork, which I consented to go with him, and
at our Departure from Corke he told us he was bound again to
Teneriffe, St. Cruize, where We came from, which if occasion I will
give my Oath and has sett my Hand.
his mark
JOHN [X] GORDING.
_140. Certificate of British Consul in Madeira. March 9, 1740
(N.S.)_[1]
[Footnote 1: It is to be presumed that all these documents originating
in the Madeira or Canary Islands are dated according to new style.]
These are to Certify all whom it may Concern that upon the arrival of
the Sloop _Amsterdam Post_ at this Island the Judge of the Poor
applyed to Capt. Philip Dumaresq to have her Unloaded, there being no
Salt Beef in the Place at that Time for Sale, to which the said
Dumaresq answer'd that he could not consent to it till it was first
Condemn'd by some English Admiral as good Prize, upon which the said
Judge Applyed to the officers of the Chamber at their respective
Houses and came back and told him that he should be obliged to it
whether he wou'd or no, for that the Island was in great want thereof,
and that he would give him a Certificate that they forced him to it,
but to this day the said Dumaresq has not been able to obtain it,
notwithstanding the said Judge has in my hearing several Times
promised to give it to him.
As Witness my Hand in Funchal, Island of Madera, 9th March 1740.
RICHARD BAKER, Consul.
_141. Receipt for Mediterranean Pass. May 29, 1740 (N.S.)._
Receiv'd from Capt. Philip Dumaresq Command[er] of the Private Man of
War Sloop _Young Eagle_, a Mediterranean Pass No. 2533,[1] Granted by
the Hono'ble the Commissioners of the Admiralty of Great Britain the
Eleventh Day of July, One thousand seven hundred and thirty eight, to
AEneas Mackay, then Master of the Sloop _Amsterdam Post_, now taken as
Prize by the abovesd Capt. Ph. Dumaresq. In Witness hereof I have
Signed two Receipts, both of this tenour and Date, in the Island of
Madera, the 29th May, 1740.
RICHARD BAKER, Consul.
[Footnote 1: See doc. no. 128, note 12.]
The Claimant in Court acknowledged the Certificate signed by the
Consul touching the Delivery of the English Mediterranean Pass to him
by Capt. Dumaresq to be the proper hand writing of Richard Baker,
Esq., Consul at Madera, as also the Certificate of the Judge of the
Poor's obliging Capt. Dumaresq to Unload.
_142. Certificate of British-Dutch Vice-Consul in Teneriffe. April 26,
1740 (N.S.)._
I Certify and avouch to all Gent. whom these Present may concern, That
Don Peter Dufourd, Vice-Consul General for the French and Britannick
Nations,[1] Appeared before Me, as also Don John Delake, John
Whitefield and Don Issario Antonio Samer, Merch'ts residing in this
Port, who say that the Sloop called the _Amsterdam Packett_, whereof
Capt. Aeneas Mackay is Commander, has usually come to this Port; and
that the said Sloop arrived here under Dutch [Colours] the 27 of
October the year last past, 1739, and that the said Sloop sailed again
for Amsterdam, consigned to the Divernetts, and that the said Sloop
wore Dutch Colours, during the time she lay at anchor in this Road,
and that said Sloop Sailed and Returned on her Voyage out of this Port
under Dutch Colours; and that the said AEneas Mackay brought with him
his Dutch Clearance and Passport, and that he the said Mackay is a
Resident and Dweller in Amsterdam; and that the Cargo which he had
brought and now did bring, did actually belong to Merch'ts in Holland
Corresponding with the aforementioned Divernetts herein expressed, and
that the aforesaid Don Peter Dufourd, as Vice-Consul General, did pass
the Usual Visit of Health in the aforegoing Voyage; and that he[2]
brought his Dutch Journal, which was set down in his Book as a
Dutchman, and for this purpose he[3] holds his Vice-Consulship as well
as being Employed Vice-Consul for the Dutch; and further saith that he
the said Dufourd had been in Company with Isaac Divernett in the House
of Don Arnold Vansteinfortt,[4] Consul General for the Dutch in these
Islands, when the said AEneas Mackay shewed him his Papers, as he was
Consul for that Nation, Manifesting his being Naturalized in
Amsterdam, and for this reason he brought a Dutch Passport and Wore
Dutch Colours; the Truth of which he declares before God, no person
being able to say to the contrary, it being a Publick and known Truth,
of what has been Declared, Signed by these Presents with the aforesd
Vice Consul Gen'l and the afore mentioned Merch'ts of this Port of
Santa Crux of Teneriffe, the 26th Day of April 1740. PETER DUFOURD,
Vice Consul General, JOHN WHITEFIELD, ISSARIO ANTONIO SAMER, JOHN
DELAKE, JOSEPH VRANES [Vianes][5] of Salas, Publick Scrivener.
[Footnote 1: And also for the Dutch Republic; see below. George Glas,
in the "Description of the Canary Islands" appended to his translation
of Juan Abreu de Galindo, _History of the Discovery and Conquest of
the Canary Islands_ (London, 1764), says that the British and Dutch
consuls were the only Protestants allowed to dwell in the islands.
Santa Cruz was the centre for the foreign trade, and the governor
resided there, on Teneriffe, though the bishop and the courts were at
Palmas, on the Grand Canary.]
[Footnote 2: Mackay.]
[Footnote 3: Dusourd.]
[Footnote 4: See doc. no. 165, note 11.]
[Footnote 5: See _ibid._]
Compared with the Original before Me which is in my Power and office,
and this I remit as a true Copy, the Day and Year aforementioned. In
Testimony of the Truth,
JOSEPH VRANES of Salas,
Publick Scrivener.
We do Declare and Avouch that Joseph Vranes, who has attested this
Copy, is Publick Scrivener, and that full Faith is and ought to be
given to all his Instruments of Writing and Dispatches, both here and
abroad. Wherefore We have Signed this in Santa Crux of Teneriffe, the
29th of April, 1740.
JOSEPH PADILLA,
JOSEPH ANTONIO SANCHES. Apostollick Notary.
FRANCISCO DELGADA.
_143. Sentence of Admiralty Judge. September 1, 1740._[1]
[Footnote 1: Court proceedings here resumed, after insertion of
documents in the record.]
Capt. Dixon, who Translated the Several Spanish Papers aforewritten,
made Oath in Court that he had Translated them according to the best
of his Skill and Judgment.
The Court was then Adjourn'd to the 25th Curr't at 8 a Clock A.M., at
which Time it was Opened and both Parties fully heard by their
advocates, after which the Court was Adjourn'd to the Thirtieth Curr't
at 10 a Clock a.m., at which Time the Judge Decreed the Vessell and
Cargo a Lawfull Prize, and on the first of September following
delivered his Reasons for Adjudication in Open Court, which is as
follows, viz.
I have duly Considered the Preparatory Examinations and all the Papers
and Writings which were Sworn to be found and taken in and with the
Capture (a Mediterranean Pass excepted) and also the Depositions given
in Open Court, and likewise with great Deliberation weighed the
Arguments of the Advocates, as well on the part of the Captor as on
the part of the Claimant, and it appears to Me that the Sloop Libelled
against was a British Bottom, Navigated by British Subjects, and that
the Master thereof, AEneas Mackay, on the 11th of July, 1738, had
Granted to him for said Sloop by the Right Hono'ble the Lords
Commissioners for Executing the Office of Lord High Admiral of Great
Britain a Mediterranean Pass No. 2533, which was found on board the
said Sloop at the Time of the Capture. It also appears to Me that the
said Master, on the 16th Septr., 1739, by the Name of AEneas Mackay of
London, Captain, took the usual Oath of a Porter of the City of
Amsterdam; that on the 22d of said Month the said Master before the
Magistrates and Rulers of that City made oath that the Vessell
aforesd., of which he was then Master, belonged to a House in that
Province and afterwards the said Vessell in Holland as to her
Clearing, Passport, Visiting, Taxing, etc., was Treated as a Dutch
Bottom; that on the 2d of Octobr. following the said Master hired a
Chamber in Amsterdam _for one year_, But in case no one appeared in
October following then it should be in the power of the Lessor to Lett
the same to another, and he Enter'd the Day following, and shortly
after sailed in said Vessell to Teneriffe, from whence in a few Days
he and his hands, British Subjects, and after the Proclamation of War,
with Two Passes, viz. the said Mediterranean Pass and a Dutch Pass,
sailed to Cork in the Kingdom of Ireland, having a Great quantity of
Money, as appears by his Journal; there he purchases a Loading,
Chiefly Provisions, Clears out for the Maderas, and accordingly had
one Sett of Bills of Lading for that Port, to be delivered to William
Callanach or to his assigns, who to Me appears to be a fictitious
Person, and one other Sett of Bills of Lading for said Cargo to be
Deliverd at the Port of C----[2] unto Divernett Freres, who plainly
appeard to me then to be two Merch'ts Settled Inhabit'ts at Teneriffe,
one of them since dead, the other there still Inhabiting; that on the
15th of January, 1739, the said Vessell was taken, as set forth in the
Libel, with the said Papers and the Books of Acco'ts of the said
Master, and by which acco'ts it turns out to my Satisfaction if those
two Brothers the Devernets were not solely Owners they were
Principally so. It further appears that the reason assigned by the
Master, when taken, of being so near Teneriffe and setting in for that
Port was for Water, when in Truth it's in Proof they were Letting out
their Water Secretly, and after Stopt by the Captors there was Water
for one hand more than the Crew belonging to the Sloop for three
Weeks, which carried them into Madera, and if the Say of some of the
Sailors is to be Credited they were Shipped at Corke for Teneriffe;
and all this to Demonstration Shews which of those two Setts of Bills
of Lading must be understood to be Real. It also appears in Proof,
certifyed under the hand of the British Consul at Madera (whose name
thereto subscrib'd is owned by the Claimant to be of his proper
handwriting), that the said Cargo was there by force Unloaded, by
Means Whereof not brought with the Vessell to this Port, So that in
fine here is a British Master endeavouring to Commence Dutchman, a
British Vessell with two Passes, British and Dutch, and to be
occasionally[3] either a British or Dutch Bottom Navigated by British
Subjects in time of War with Spain, Sails from Teneriffe with Money to
Cork in Ireland, there purchases a Cargo of Provisions bound directly
back to our Enemies, makes a false Clearance as if bound to Madera,
has two Setts of Bill of Lading, the One which is Real to Deliver the
Cargo at a Port part of the Dominions of a Prince in Enmity with us,
and to Persons there Inhabiting who appear to be altogether or
Principally owners, Carrying the King's Subjects to Enemies, whereby
they by Menaces or Corruption or both may be drawn from their
Allegiance, and happily is thus taken, and to have it a Question
whether it's a Lawfull Capture or not is somewhat Extraordinary, for
my part till I am better Informed from Home I shall never Ballance in
Cases so Wickedly Contrived and contrary to the Conduct of plain
Trading and Simple Honesty, But in Justice to my King and Country
always Condemn, and if this Mackay was in Court, notwithstanding all
his Subtlety and Double Dealing and his pretended Naturalization
Certifyed from Teneriffe, as in the Case, I should order him in
Custody till delivered up to the Government. Therefore on the whole I
Adjudge and Condemn the Vessell and Cargo Libelled against as a
Lawfull Prize, Entirely to belong to and be Divided between and among
the Owners of the Sloop that Seized and Took her as aforesaid, and the
several Persons which were on Board the same, in such Shares and
Proportions as were agreed on with the Owners aforesd. and the persons
thus entituled thereto by virtue of such agreement among themselves.
And as to the Objection that the Cargo is not brought in the Vessell,
the Manner of it's being forced from the Captor is Certified, and that
this Court may notwithstanding proceed to Condemnation is not only the
practice of the Court, but so known in the Kings Court, as in the
Cases the King v. Broom, Brown and Burton v. Francklyn.[4]
ROB'T. AUCHMUTY, Judge Ad'y.
Examd
per JOHN PAYNE, D.Reg'r.
[Footnote 2: Santa Cruz?]
[Footnote 3: _I.e._, according to occasion.]
[Footnote 4: Rex _vs._ Broom or Brome is in Comberbach's _Reports_
(1724), p. 444 (King's Bench, Trinity term, 9 Will. III.) and, more
fully, in Carthew's _Reports_ (1728), p. 398, and 12 _Modern Reports_
135. Broom, master of a ship of the Royal African Company, captured a
French ship off the Guinea coast, sold ship and goods at Barbados, and
kept the proceeds. Franklyn, the king's proctor, exhibited a libel
against him in the High Court of Admiralty, for embezzlement of the
admiralty perquisites belonging to the king. After sentence, Broom
moved the King's Bench for a prohibition, to transfer the case to that
court, but the prohibition was refused. The case of Brown and Burton
_vs._ Franklyn (Hilary term, 10 Will. III.) was similar. Brown and
Burton were masters of two ships of the East India Company, who had
taken a rich French prize at the island of Johanna (see doc. no. 58,
note 3) and taken the goods for themselves and left the ship there,
without going to the trouble of having it properly condemned as prize.
The case is reported in Carthew, p. 474.]
THE _REVENGE_.
_144. Commission of Capt. Benjamin Norton as a Privateer. June 2,
1741._[1]
[Footnote 1: Massachusetts Historical Society, in a collection of
papers, to which several of the subsequent documents belong, presented
to the society by the late Professor Charles Eliot Norton,
great-grandson of Captain Benjamin Norton. This commission, or letter
of marque, may be compared with one of 1782 (New York, loyalist), in
Anthony Stokes, _View of the Constitution of the British Colonies_,
pp. 340-347, and with the Portuguese letter of marque in doc. no. 14.
This Benjamin Norton may have been a son of the one who figures in
doc. no. 118.]
Richard Ward Esq Governour and Commander in Chief in and over his
Majesty's Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations in New
England.
To all Persons, to whom these Presents shall come, Greeting.
Whereas his most Sacred Majesty George the Second by the Grace of God
of Great Britain, France, and Ireland King, Defender of the Faith
etc., hath been pleased by his Declaration of the nineteenth Day of
October, in the year of our Lord One Thousand seven hundred Thirty and
nine, for the Reasons therein contained, to declare War against Spain,
And has given Orders for the granting Commissions to any of his loving
Subjects, or others that shall be deemed fitly qualified in that
Behalf, for the apprehending, seizing and taking the Ships, Vessels
and Goods belonging to Spain, or the Vassals and Subjects of the King
of Spain, or others inhabiting within any of his Countries,
Territories, and Dominions, and such other Ships, Vessels and Goods,
as are or shall be liable to Confiscation Pursuant to the respective
Treaties between his Majesty and other Princes, States and Potentates,
and to bring the same to Judgment in the High Court of Admiralty in
England, or such other Court of Admiralty as shall be lawfully
authorized for Proceedings and Adjudication, and Condemnation to be
thereupon had according to the Course of Admiralty and Laws of
Nations,
And Whereas Benjamin Norton Mariner and John Freebody Merchant both of
Newport in the Colony aforesd. have equipped, furnished, and
victualled a Sloop called the _Revenge_ of the Burthen of about One
hundred and Fifteen Tons, whereof the said Benjamin Norton is
Commander who hath given Bond with sufficient Sureties,
Know Ye therefore That I do by these Presents, grant Commission to,
and do license and authorize the said Benjamin Norton to set forth in
Hostile manner the said Sloop called the _Revenge_ under his own
Command, And therewith by Force of Arms (for the Space of Twelve
months from the Date hereof, If the war shall so long continue) to
apprehend, seize and take the Ships, Vessels and Goods belonging to
Spain, or the Vassals and Subjects of the King of Spain, or others
inhabiting within any of his Countries, Territories or Dominions, and
such other Ships, Vessels and Goods, as are or shall be liable to
Confiscation Pursuant to the respective Treaties between his Majesty
and other Princes, States and Potentates, and to bring the Same to
such Port as shall be most convenient, In order to have them legally
adjudged in such Court of Admiralty as shall be lawfully authorized
within his Majesty's Dominions, which being condemned, It shall and
may be lawful for the said Benjamin Norton to sell and dispose of such
Ships, Vessels and Goods so adjudged and condemned in such Sort and
manner as by the Course of Admiralty hath been accustomed (Except in
such Cases where it is otherwise directed by his Instructions[2])
Provided always That the said Benjamin Norton keep an exact Journal of
his Proceedings, and therein particularly take notice of all Prizes
that shall be taken by Him, the Nature of such Prizes, the Times and
Places of their being taken, and the Value of Them as near as He can
judge: As also of the Station, Motion and Strength of the enemy, as
well as He or his Mariners can discover or find out by Examination of,
or Conference with any Mariners or Passengers in any Ship or Vessel by
Him taken, or by any other Ways or Means whatsoever, touching or
concerning the Enemy, or any of their Fleets, Ships, Vessels or
Parties, and of what else material in these Cases that may come to his
or their Knowledge, of All which He shall from Time to Time as He
shall have an Oportunity, transmit and give an Account unto me (or
such Commander of any of his Majesty's Ships of War as He shall first
meet with). And further Provided that nothing be done by the said
Benjamin Norton or any of his officers, mariners and Company contrary
to the true meaning of the aforesaid Instructions, But that the said
Instructions shall be by Them, as far as They or any of Them are
therein concerned, in all Particulars well and duly observed and
performed, And I do beseech and request all Kings, Princes,
Potentates, Estates and Republicks being his Majesty's Friends and
Allies, and all others to whom it shall appertain to give the said
Benjamin Norton all Aid, Assistance and Succour in their Ports, with
his said Sloop and Company and Prizes without doing, or suffering to
be done to Him any Wrong, Trouble or Hindrance, His Majesty offering
to do the like, when by Any of Them thereto desired, Requesting
likewise of All his Majesty's officers whatsoever to give Him Succour
and Assistance as Occasion shall require.
[Footnote 2: See doc. no. 126.]
Given under my Hand, and the Seal of said Colony, at Newport aforesaid
the Second Day of June Anno Dm. 1741, and in the Fourteenth year of
his said Majesty's Reign.
RICHARD WARD.[3]
[Footnote 3: Governor 1740-1743.]
Sealed with the Seal of said Colony
by Order of His Honour the Governour
JAS. MARTIN, Secry.
Colony of Rhode Island etc. Newport 6th November 1741
The above and foregoing is a true Copy of the Commission granted Capt.
Benjamin Norton for the Sloop _Revenge_ on a Cruise against the
Spaniards etc. as the Same stands recorded in my office in the Book
No. 4, Fo. 544 and 545.
Teste JAS. MARTIN, Not. Pub.
_145. Journal of the Sloop Revenge. June 5-October 5, 1741._[1]
[Footnote 1: Massachusetts Historical Society. This journal, parts of
which were Published by Professor Norton in the _Atlantic Monthly_ for
September and October, 1861 (VIII. 353-359, 417-424) was kept by Peter
Vezian, captain's quartermaster (there were two quartermasters, one
appointed by the captain and one elected by the crew).]
A Journal of all the Transactions on Board the Sloop _Revenge_ Benja.
Norton Com'r by God's Grace and Under his Protection Bound on a
Cruising Voyage against the Spaniards Begun June the 5th, 1741.