An Account of the Behaviour and Last Dying Speeches Of the Six Pirates, that were Executed on Charles River, Boston side, on Fryday, June 30th, 1704. Viz., Capt. John Quelch, John Lambert, Christopher Scudamore, John Miller, Erasmus Peterson and Peter Roach.

The Ministers of the Town had used more than ordinary Endeavours, to Instruct the Prisoners, and bring them to Repentance. There were Sermons Preached in their hearing, Every day,[2] And Prayers daily made with them. And they were Catachised; and they had many occasional Exhortations. And nothing was left, that could be done for their Good.

[Footnote 2: One of the sermons preached by Cotton Mather to the unfortunate men was printed by him this year under the title Faithful Warnings to prevent Fearful Judgments.]

On Fryday the 20th [30th] of June 1704, Pursuant to Orders in the Dead Warrant, the aforesaid Pirates were guarded from the Prison in Boston, by Forty Musketeers, Constables of the Town, the Provost Marshal and his Officers, etc. with Two Ministers,[3] who took great pains to prepare them for the last Article of their Lives. Being allowed to walk on Foot through the Town, to Scarlets Wharff,[4] where, the Silver Oar being carried before them, they went by Water to the place of Execution, being Crowded and thronged on all sides with Multitudes of Spectators. The Ministers then Spoke to the Malefactors, to this Effect.

[Footnote 3: Rev. Thomas Bridge of the First Church, and Cotton Mather of the Second.]

[Footnote 4: At the foot of Fleet Street, near the present South Ferry. Thus the grim procession went around most of the water front of the town. Sewall says his cousin counted 150 boats full of spectators of the execution, besides the multitude on land. The silver oar was the emblem of the admiralty.]

"We have told you often, ye[a] we have told you Weeping, That you have by Sin undone your selves; That you were born Sinners, That you have lived Sinners, That your Sins have been many and mighty, and that the Sins for which you are now to Dy are of no common aggravation. We have told you, That there is a Saviour for Sinners, and we have shewn you, how to commit your selves into His Saving and Healing Hands. We have told you, That if He Save you, He will give you an hearty Repentance for all your Sins, and we have shown you how to Express that Repentance. We have told you, What Marks of Life must be desired for your Souls, that you may Safely appear before the Judgment Seat of God. Oh! That the means used for your Good may by the Grace of God be made Effectual. We can do no more, but leave you in His Merciful Hands!"

When they were gone up upon the Stage, and Silence was Commanded, One of the Ministers Prayed, as followeth.

The Prayer made by One of the Ministers, after the Malefactors were first upon the Stage.[5] (As near as it could be taken in Writing in the great Crowd.)

[Footnote 5: This prayer is unmistakable Cotton Mather; to whom we may be sure this whole occasion was one of extraordinary enjoyment.]

"O Thou most Great and Glorious Lord! Thou art a Righteous, and a Terrible God. It is a Righteous and an Holy Law that thou hast given unto us. To break that Good Law, and Sin against thy Infinite Majesty, can be no little Evil. Thy Word is always True; and very Particular, that Word of thine which has told us and warn'd us, Evil Pursueth Sinners. We have seen it, we have seen it; We have before our Eyes a dreadful Demonstration of it. Oh! Sanctify unto us a Sight that has in it so much of the Terror of the Lord! We have Reason to Glorify the Free Grace of God, that we are not our selves the Instances. We have before us very astonishing Examples of Evil Pursuing Sinners. Here is a Number of men that have been very Great Sinners, and that are to Dy before their Time, for their being wicked overmuch. God knows the Prayers, the Pains, the Tears, and the Agonies that have been Employ'd for them. And now, the Last Thing that we have to do for them, is to pour out with Anguish of Soul our Prayer on their behalf; Our Prayer, to that God, who heareth Prayer; to that God, with whom there is Mercy and Plenteous Redemption; to that God, who is Rich in Mercy and Ready to Pardon. But how can we make our Prayer, without a Rapturous Adoration of that Free-Grace, which has distinguished us! We, even we also, have every one of us an horrible Fountain of Sin in our Souls. There are none of the Crimes committed by these Miserable Men, or by the worst of those Criminals that go down into the Pit, but we have the seeds of them, in that Original Corruption, which we brought into the World with us. If God had left us to our selves, as He justly might have done, there is not the best among us all, but what would soon have done the worst things in the World. Oh! The Free-Grace! Oh! The Free-Grace! Oh! The Riches of that Grace, which has made all the Difference! But now, we Cry mightily to Heaven, we Lift up our Cries to the God of all Grace, for the Perishing Souls which are just now going to Expire under the Stroke of Justice, before our Eyes. We Mourn, we Mourn, that upon some of them, at Least, we do unto this Minute see no better Symptomes. But, Oh! is there not yet a Room for Sovereign Grace to be display'd, in their Conversion and Salvation! They Perish, if they do not now Sincerely Turn from Sin to God, and give themselves up to the Lord Jesus Christ; They Righteously and Horribly Perish! And yet, without influences from above, they can do none of those things which must be done if they do not perish. Oh! Let us beg it of our God, that He would not be so Provoked at their Multiplied and Prodigious Impieties, and at their obstinate Hardness under means of Good formerly afforded them, as to withhold those Influences from them! We cry to thee, O God of all Grace, That thou wouldest not Suffer them to continue in the Gall of Bitterness and Bond of Iniquity, and in the Possession of the Devil. Oh! Knock off the Chains of Death which are upon their Souls; Oh! Snatch the prey out of the Hands of the Terrible.

"Yet once again! Once again! We bring them, and lay them before the Spirit of Grace. O Almighty Spirit of Grace, May these Poor, blind, mad Sinners become objects for the Triumphs of Grace! O Almighty Spirit of God, and of Grace, cause these poor men to see their own Sinfulness and Wretchedness! Make them willing to be Saved from such Sinfulness and Wretchedness; Discover to them the only Saviour of their Souls. Oh! Dispose them, Oh! Assist them to give the Consent of their Souls unto His Wonderful Proposals. Let them Dy, Renouncing all Dependence on any Righteousness of their own; Alas, what can they have of their own to Depend upon! As a Token and Effect of their having Accepted the Righteousness of God, Let them heartily Repent of all their Sins against thee, and Abhor and cast up every Morsel of their Iniquity. Oh! Let them not go out of the World, raging and raving against the Justice of God and Man; And whatever part of the Satanick Image is yet remaining on their Souls, Oh! Efface it! Let them now Dy in such a State and such a Frame, as may render them fit to appear before God the Judge of all. What shall we do for them? What shall plead for them?

"Great God, Grant that all the Spectators may get Good by the horrible Spectacle that is now before them! Let all the People hear and fear, and let no more any such Wickedness be done, as has produced this woful Spectacle. And let all the People beware how they go on in the Ways of Sin, and in the pathes of the Destroyer, after so Solemn Warnings; Lest thou shouldest not only leave them to the grossest Acts of Wickedness, but also give them up unto the most amazing Impenitency, when the Punishment of their Iniquity comes to be inflicted on them.

"Oh! but shall our Sea faring Tribe, on this Occasion, be in a Singular manner affected with the Warnings of God! Lord, May those of our dear Brethren be Saved from the Temptations which do so threaten them! so ruine them! Oh! let them not Abandon themselves to Profanity, to Swearing, to Cursing, to Drinking, to Leudness, to a cursed Forgetfulness of their Maker, and of the End for which He made them! Oh! Let them not be abandoned of God, unto those Courses that will hasten them to a Damnation that slumbers not. Oh! Let the men fear the Lord Exceedingly, We Pray thee! We Pray thee! Let the Condition of the Six or Seven men, whom they now see Dying for their Wickedness upon the Sea, be Sanctified unto them.

"And now, we fly, we fly to Sovereign Grace. Oh! that the Poor men, which are immediately to appear before the awful Tribunal of God, may first by Sovereign Grace have produced upon their Souls those Marks of thy Favour, without which tis a dreadful Thing to appear before that awful Tribunal. Oh! Great God, Let thy Sovereign Grace Operate on this fearful Occasion! God be Merciful to us all, for the Sake of our Lord Jesus Christ, unto whom with the Father and the Spirit, be ascribed the Kingdom, the Power and the Glory, for ever more, Amen."

They then Severally Spoke, Viz.

I. Capt. John Quelch. The last Words he spake to One of the Ministers at his going up the Stage, were, "I am not afraid of Death, I am not afraid of the Gallows, but I am afraid of what follows; I am afraid of a Great God, and a Judgment to Come." But he afterwards seem'd to brave it out too much against that fear: also when on the Stage first he pulled off his Hat, and bowed to the Spectators, and not Concerned, nor behaving himself so much like a Dying man as some would have done. The Ministers had, in the Way to his Execution, much desired him to Glorify God at his Death, by bearing a due Testimony against the Sins that had ruined him, and for the ways of Religion which he had much neglected: yet now being called upon to speak what he had to say, it was but thus much; "Gentlemen, 'Tis but little I have to speak; What I have to say is this, I desire to be informed for what I am here. I am Condemned only upon Circumstances. I forgive all the World: So the Lord be Merciful to my Soul." When Lambert was Warning the Spectators to beware of Bad-Company, Quelch joyning, "They should also take care how they brought Money into New-England, to be Hanged for it!"

II. John Lambert. He appeared much hardened, and pleaded much on his Innocency. He desired all men to beware of Bad Company; he seem'd in a great Agony near his Execution; he called much and frequently on Christ, for Pardon of Sin, that God Almighty would Save his innocent Soul; he desired to forgive all the World; his last words were, "Lord, forgive my Soul! Oh, receive me into Eternity! blessed name of Christ receive my Soul."

III. Christopher Scudamore. He appeared very Penitent since his Condemnation, was very diligent to improve his time going to, and at the place of Execution.

IV. John Miller. He seem'd much concerned, and complained of a great Burden of Sins to answer for; Expressing often, "Lord! What shall I do to be Saved!"

V. Erasmus Peterson. He cryed of injustice done him; and said, it is very hard for so many mens Lives to be taken away for a little Gold. He often said, his Peace was made with God; and his Soul would be with God: yet extream hard to forgive those he said wronged him. He told the Executioner, he was a strong man, and Prayed to be put out of misery as soon as possible.

VI. Peter Roach. He seem'd little concerned, and said but little or nothing at all.

Francis King was also Brought to the place of Execution, but Repriev'd.

Printed for and Sold by Nicholas Boone, at his Shop near the Old Meeting-House in Boston. 1704.

Advertisement.

There is now in the Press, and will speedily be Published: The Arraignment, Tryal and Condemnation of Capt. John Quelch, and others of his Company, etc. For sundry Piracies, Robberies and Murder, committed upon the Subjects of the King of Portugal, Her Majesties Allie, on the Coast of Brasil, etc. Who upon full Evidence were found Guilty, at the Court-House in Boston, on the 13th of June 1704. With the Arguments of the Queen's Council, and Council for the Prisoners, upon the Act for the more effectual Suppression of Piracy. With an account of the Ages of the several Prisoners, and the Places where they were Born. Printed for and sold by Nicholas Boone, 1704.[6]

[Footnote 6: The publication of the pamphlet here advertised was by authority of Governor Dudley, who gives the Board of Trade the following excuse for printing the minutes of the trial before sending them to that body (letter of July 25, 1705), "My Lords, I should not have directed the printing of them here, but to satisfy and save the clamour of a rude people, who were greatly surprised that any body should be put to death that brought in gold into the Province, and did at the time speak rudely of the proceeding against them and assisted to hide and cover those ill persons". Cal. St. P. Col., 1704-1705, p. 585.]

* * * * *

105. Deposition of Paul Dudley. August 15, 1705.[1]

[Footnote 1: Public Record Office, C.O. 5:1263, no. 57 XXVI. Paul Dudley was the governor's oldest son. The deposition is one of 55 enclosures in the governor's letter of Nov. 2, 1705, to the Board of Trade respecting his complaints of irregularities in the governments of Rhode Island and Connecticut. Though Dudley's commissions as governor confined his civil authority to Massachusetts and New Hampshire, his commission as vice-admiral (printed in the Publications of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts, II. 220-224) gave him authority in Rhode Island also. The assembly of that colony, however, claimed the right under their charter to erect admiralty courts of their own, and for their governor the right to commission privateers. Queen Anne wrote to them in March 1704, repealing their act erecting a court, but they held that her letter did not forbid the commissioning of privateers. See Records of the Colony of Rhode Island, III. 508-510, 535-540.]

The Deposition of Paul Dudley, Esquire, Her Majestys Attourney General for the Province of the Massachusetts Bay in New England, and Advocate of the Court of Admiralty—who saith

That on or about the fifth day of June last past, being at Newport on Road Island in Company with the Honourable Nathaniel Byfield, Esquire, Judge of the Court of Admiralty, etc.[2] at the House of Samuel Cranston, Esquire, Governour of said Island, The said Judge complaining of the said Governours granting a Commission to Captain Halsey, a Privateer,[3] after the Receipt of her Majesties Commands to the Contrary, The said Samuel Cranston replyed, That he had taken the advice of the Generall Court[4] of that Colony, who were all of opinion That her Majesties Commands did not forbid him or restrain him from Granting Commissions for Privateers, And that their Charter granting them Power of Vice Admiralty,[5] he was determined to Exercise that power, and Grant such Commissions untill their Charter was actually and wholly taken away; And that they would not part with their powers or Government by piece meal, but would Die all at once, And that they had parted with too many of their priviledges already....

PAUL DUDLEY.

BOSTON in New England 15 August 1705

Sworne in presence of his Excellency the Governour before us

ISA. ADDINGTON } ANDREW BELCHER } of the Council

[Footnote 2: Nathaniel Byfield—founder of Bristol, Mass, (now R.I.), nephew of Archbishop Juxon and grandson of that Rev. Richard Byfield who was vicar of Stratford-on-Avon during most of Shakespeare's life—was commissioned admiralty judge for Massachusetts and Rhode Island during brief periods in 1698 and 1703, again 1704-1715 and 1728-1732.]

[Footnote 3: Nov. 7, 1704, Cranston had given a privateer's commission to Capt. John Halsey of the brigantine Charles, the vessel that had been Quelch's. The governor's confidence seems not to have been justified, for presently Halsey entered upon a large and lurid career of piracy, duly described in Johnson, General History of the Pyrates, II. 110-118.]

[Footnote 4: Assembly.]

[Footnote 5: It would be hard to find any such grant in the Rhode Island charter of 1663.]

106. Commission for Trial of Piracy. November 1, 1716.[1]

[Footnote 1: Charleston, Records of the Court of Vice-admiralty of South Carolina, vol. A-B. The document is spread upon the records of the court for Nov. 27, 1716, at the beginning of the day's proceedings. This commission is a peculiar one. As has been explained in note 2 to doc. no. 51 and in note 1 to doc. no. 104, the act 28 Henr. VIII. ch. 15 (1536) provided for the trial of piracy by commissions specially appointed for the purpose, and with a jury, but did not extend to the oversea plantations, while the act 11 and 12 Will. III. ch. 7 (1699-1700) extended to those dominions the crown's authority to appoint such commissions. Before the passage of the latter statute, colonial governors had as vice-admirals appointed such commissions, which had then proceeded under the civil (Roman) law, and not under the statute. But South Carolina had in 1712 expressly adopted the act of 28 Henr. VIII. (Cooper, Statutes at Large, II. 470) and here we have a commission issued by the deputy governor and council, under authority of the proprietors of Carolina, for trial under the act of 1536, though action could have been taken under that of 1700. The accused persons for whose trial the commission was issued were acquitted. For the whole subject of piracy in or near Carolina, where it was rife in these years, see S.C. Hughson, "The Carolina Pirates and Colonial Commerce", in Johns Hopkins University Studies, XII. The most famous case was that of Major Stede Bonnet, but the original records of that case are fully printed in State Trials, ed. Hargrave, vol. VI.]

South Carolina.

His Excellency John Lord Carteret, Palatine, The most Noble Henry Duke of Beaufort, the Right Hon'ble William Lord Craven, the Hon'ble Maurice Ashley Esqr., Sir John Colleton Baronet, John Danson Esqr., and the rest of the true and absolute Lords and Proprietors of Carolina,[2] To Nicholas Trott Esq., Judge of the Vice Admiralty in South Carolina and chief Justice of the said Province,[3] The Hon'ble Capt. Thomas Howard Commander of his Majestys ship the Shoram, the Hon'ble Charles Hart Esqr., one of the Members of our Council in South Carolina, the Hon'ble Thomas Broughton, Speaker of the Lower House of Assembly in South Carolina, Arthur Middleton and Ralph Izard Esqrs., Capt. Philip Dawes, Capt. Willm. Cuthbert, Commander of the Fortune Frigate, Capt. Allen Archer, Commander of the Brigantine Experiment, and Samuel Deane and Edward Brailsford, merchants, Greeting.

[Footnote 2: The six proprietors of Carolina here named held at this time six of the eight shares in the property. The holder of the seventh was a minor; the eighth was in litigation.]

[Footnote 3: Nicholas Trott, LL.D., attorney-general of Bermuda 1696-1697, the first attorney general of South Carolina 1698-1702, chief-justice 1702-1709, 1713-1719, a learned lawyer, and a great power in the politics of the province so long as the rule of the proprietors continued. He was the first vice-admiralty judge, having commissions as such from both the king and the proprietors. He is often erroneously identified with his cousin the governor (1693-1696) of the Bahamas, the Nicholas Trott of docs. nos. 63 and 64.]

Whereas by an Act of Parliament made in the Twenty-Eight year of Henry the Eight Intituled for Pirates It is among other things Enacted That all Treasons, Felonies, Robberies, Murthers and Confederacies thereafter Committed in or upon the Seas or in any other Haven, River, Creek or Place where the Admiral or Admirals have or Pretend to have power, Authority or Juridiction, Shall be Inquired, Tryed, heard, determined and Judged in such Shires and Places in the Realm as shall be Limitted by the Kings Commission or Commissions to be directed for the same in like form and Condition as if any such Offence or Offences had been Committed or Done in and upon the Land, and such Commissions shall be had under the Kings Great Seal Directed to the Admiral or Admirals or to his or their Lieutenant, Deputy and Deputies, and to three or Four such other Substantial persons as shall be named or appointed by the Lord Chancellor of England for the time being from time to time and as often as needs shall require, to hear and Determine such Offences after the Common Course of the Laws of England Used for Treasons, Felonies, Robberies, Murthers and Confederacies of the same Done and Committed upon the Land within the Realm of England, And it is further Enacted That such Persons to whom such Commission or Commissions shall be Directed or four of them at the least shall have full power and authority to Inquire of such Offences and of every of them by the Oaths of Twelve good and Lawfull Inhabitants in the Shire Limited in their Commission in such like manner and form as if such offence had been Committed Upon the Land within the same Shire, And that every Indictment found and presentd before such Commissioners of any Treasons, Felonies, Robbery, Murthers, Manslaughters or such other Offences Committed or done in and upon the Seas or in and upon any other River or Creek Shall be Good and Effectual in the Law, and if any Person or Persons happen to be Indicted for any such Offence done or thereafter to be done upon the Seas or any other place above Limitted That then such Order, Process, Judgement and Execution shall be used had Done and made to and against every such person or Persons so being Indicted as against Traitors, Felons and Murtherers for Treason, Felony, Robbery, Murther or such Offences done upon the Land as by the Law of this Realm is Accustomed, and that the Tryal of such Offence or Offences if it be Denied by the Offender or Offenders shall be had by Twelve Lawfull men Inhabited in the Shire Limited within such Commission, which shall be Directed as is aforesaid, and no Challenge or Challenges to be had for the Hundred.

And such as shall be Convict of any such Offence or Offences by Verdict, Confession or Process by Authority of any such Commission shall have and Suffer such pains of Death, Losses of Lands, Goods and Chattels as if they had been Attainted and Convicted of any Treasons, Felonies, Robberies or other the Like said Offences done upon the Land,[4] Which said Act for Pirates with Several other Acts of Parliament of the Kingdom of England are made of Force in this Province by of Act of Assembly Intitled an Act to put in Force in this Province the several Statutes of the Kingdom Of England or South Britain therein particularly mentioned, duely Ratified in open Assembly the Twelth Day of December in the year of our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred and Twelve, In which said Act of Assembly Amongst other things It is Enacted That the Honble Governor and the Council of this Province for the time being shall have all the power and Authority relating to the Execution of the therein Enumerated Statutes as by the same or by any other the Laws of England are Given to the Lord Chancellor or the Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of England as the said Act of Assembly, reference being there unto had, will more fully appear.

[Footnote 4: Thus far quoting, correctly, sect. 2 of 28 Henr. VIII. ch. 15.]

Now Know yee, That we, reposing especial Trust and Confidence in the Ability, Care, Prudence and Fidelity of you the said Nicholas Trott, Thomas Howard, Charles Hart, Thomas Broughton, Arthur Middleton, Ralph Izard, Philip Daws, William Cuthbert, Allen Archer and Samuel Brailsford or any four of you, the said Nicholas Trott to be one, have constituted and Appointed and by these presents Do Constitute and Appoint you to be Our Commissioners in South Carolina for Examining, Enquiring of, Trying, Hearing and Determining and Adjudging, according to the directions of the said act of Parliament as made of force in the said province of South Carolina, all Treason, Piracies, Robberies, Felonies and Murthers Committed in or upon the Sea or within any Haven, River, Creek or place where the Admiral or Admirals have power, authority or Jurisdiction, And to Do all things necessary for the hearing and final Determination of any Cases of Treason, Piracy, Robbery, Felony or Murther Committed on the Sea or where the Admiral hath Jurisdication, and to Give Sentence and Judgement of Death and to Award Execution of the Offenders so Convicted and Attainted, And we hereby direct, Impower and require you our said Commissioners to proceed, Act, Examine, hear, adjudge and Determine in all things as fully and amply to all Intents and purposes within this province of South Carolina as any Commissioners in the Kingdom of England Impowered by Commission under the Broad Seal pursuant to the said Statute of the Twenty Eight of Henry the Eight for Pirates or any the like Commissioners in any of the British Plantations in America can or may lawfully doe, perform and Execute, And we do hereby Require and Command all our Officers and all other Persons whatsoever in anywise concerned to take notice of this our Grant and give all due Obedience to your said Commissioners in the Execution of the several powers herein Granted you, as they will Answer the Contrary att their Perils. Witness our Deputy Governor and our Deputies at CharlesTown in South Carolina And Given under the Publick Seal of the said Province of South Carolina This First day of November In the Third year of the Reign of our Lord George, by the Grace of God of Great Britain France and Ireland King, Defender of the faith etc. And in the year of our Lord One Thousand Seven hundred and Sixteen.

ROBERT DANIEL.[5] GEORGE LOGAN. FRA. YONGE. SAM: EVELEIGH.

[Footnote 5: Governor Edward Craven, sailing for England in April preceding, had left Col. Robert Daniel deputy governor in his stead. The other signers were deputies of individual proprietors.]



THE PIRATES OF THE WHIDAH.

107. Cyprian Southack to Governor Samuel Shute. May [5?], 1717.[1]

[Footnote 1: Mass. Archives, vol. 51, pp. 287, 287a. Cyprian Southack was a notable sea-captain and pilot. For a number of years he commanded the naval vessel of Massachusetts, so that it was the natural course for the governor to send him in pursuit of pirates who suddenly appeared on the Massachusetts coast. In 1711 he had commanded a vessel in the unfortunate expedition against Quebec under Sir Hovenden Walker, and the admiral had stayed at his house during his long detention in Boston. He was also the most noted map-maker of his time in New England; in 1694 King William had admitted him to kiss his hands and had given him a gold chain of L50 for his map of Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and the St. Lawrence region (Acts. P.C. Col., II. 264). The governor whom he addresses was Samuel Shute, governor 1716-1727. The ending of the War of the Spanish Succession (1713) had as usual caused a large revival of piracy, many privateers turning to that trade. The career of the Whidah and of Capt. Samuel Bellamy can be made out from the depositions which follow. On April 26, in a heavy gale, she had come ashore on the sands of Cape Cod, in what is now Wellfleet, and all on board but two men (see doc. no. 114) were drowned. More than a hundred of the pirates thus perished. Of those who escaped wreck, in the smaller vessels, several, who had constituted the prize crew of the Mary Anne (doc. no. 109), were captured, tried, and executed (doc. no. 112). The story is told in The Trials of Eight Persons Indited for Piracy, etc. (Boston, 1718), and by Mr. John H. Edmonds in the Boston Sunday Globe for Oct. 22, 1916.]

CAPE COD HARBOUR[2] May [5?] 1717

[Footnote 2: Southack had come across from Boston into the inner side of the Cape.]

Maye itt Pleass Your Excellency

Sir, may 2 at 1 After noon I Came to Anchor here, finding Serveral Vessells, Visseted them and on board one of them found a Yung man boling[3] to the Ship the Pirritt[4] Took 26 April in South Channell, Saileing from Nantaskett the Day before at 3 After noon. April 26 Pirritt Ship Took a Sloop in South Channell, Lading with West India Goods, Sloop or Master I no not as Yett.[5] at 7 After noon the Pirrett Ship with her Tender, being a Snow a bout Ninty Tuns they Took in Latitude 26 deg., 15 Days agoe,[6] maned with 15 of Pirritts men, wine Ship and Sloop all to Gather Standing to the Northward. at 12 Night the Pirritt Ship and wine Ship Run a Shore, the Snow and Sloop Gott Off Shore, being Sen the Next morning in the Offen.[7]

[Footnote 3: Belonging. Spelling was not one of the captain's many accomplishments. For facsimiles of his handwriting, see Memorial History of Boston, II. liv, 98.]

[Footnote 4: Pirate. The South Channel lies in the southern portion of Nantucket Sound, south of the great shoal known as the Horse-shoe. The ship here alluded to was the pink Mary Anne; see doc. no. 109.]

[Footnote 5: The Fisher; see doc. no. 111.]

[Footnote 6: See the last part of doc. no. 108. A snow was a small vessel like a brig except for having a supplementary third, or trysail, mast.]

[Footnote 7: Seen; offing. The local legend, as recounted by the minister of Wellfleet in 1793, was that the captain of the snow, ordered by Bellamy to precede the Whidah with a light at his stern, under promise of receiving the snow as a present if he should pilot him safely into Cape Cod Harbor, purposely "approached so near the land, that the pirate's large ship which followed him struck on the outer bar: the snow being less [in draft] struck much nearer the shore". Rev. Levi Whitman, in Mass. Hist. Soc., Coll., III. 120. But the evidence in doc. no. 111 is to the contrary.]

Sir, 29 April Came to Anchor sum Distance from the Pirritt Rack[8] Ship, a Very Great Sloop. After Sending his boat to the Pirrit Rack Thay Came to Saile and Chassed serveral of Our fishing Vessells, then stod in to Sea which I belive to be his Cunsatte.[9]

[Footnote 8: Wreck.]

[Footnote 9: Consort.]

May 2 at 2 After noon I sent Mr. Little and Mr. Cuttler to the Rack. they Got their that Night and Capt[10] watch till I Came the Next morning. at my Coming their I found the Rack all to Pices, North and South, Distance from one a Nother 4 Miles. Sir, whear shee Strock first I se one Anchor at Low water, sea being so Great Ever sence I have ben here, Can not Come to se what maye be their for Riches, nor aney of her Guns. she is a ship a bout Three hundred tuns. she was very fine ship. all that I Can find saved Out of her, is her Cables and som of her sailes, Cut all to Pices by the Inhabitances here. their has ben at this Rack Two hundred men at Least Plundring of her.[11] sum saye they Gott Riches Out of the sand but I Can not find them as yett. Sir, what I shall Gett to Gather will be to the Value of Two hundred Pounds. If Your Excellency Pleass to send the sloop to Billingsgatt[12] for itt, is Carted Over Land to that Place. Sir, here has been 54 whit men and 4 Negros Come a shore Ded from the Rack. If their be aney News by the Pirritts at boston[13] whear the money is, I humbley Desier Your Excelleny menets[14] of what Place in the ship itt was in, for I am in Great hops. whare the Anchors are the money is I fancy, and weather Per mett I have Got a whale boat to fish for itt and Things for that service.[15]

[Footnote 10: Kept.]

[Footnote 11: "Wrecking" was still an important industry in the world. Indeed, as late as 1853, in this very neighborhood (Nauset Light), Emerson records in his Journal, VIII. 399, "Collins, the keeper, told us he found obstinate resistance on Cape Cod to the project of building a lighthouse on this coast, as it would injure the wrecking business".]

[Footnote 12: Wellfleet Bay.]

[Footnote 13: Those already in prison.]

[Footnote 14: Minutes.]

[Footnote 15: Rev. Mr. Whitman says (1793), "At times to this day, there are King William and Queen Mary's coppers picked up, and pieces of silver, called cob money [see doc. no. 62, note 15]. The violence of the seas moves the sands upon the outer bar so that at times the iron caboose of the ship, at low ebbs, has been seen." Ubi sup. In 1863 she was quite visible. Another reporter tells us that "For many years after this shipwreck, a man of a very singular and frightful aspect used every spring and autumn to be seen travelling on the Cape, who was supposed to have been one of Bellamy's crew. The presumption is that he went to some place where money had been secreted by the pirates, to get such a supply as his exigencies required. When he died, many pieces of gold were found in a girdle which he constantly wore." Thoreau, Cape Cod, ed. 1914, p. 192. On one of Southack's maps, a narrow waterway across Cape Cod is marked with the legend, "The Place where I came through with a Whale Boat, being ordered by the Governm't to look after the Pirate Ship Whido, Bellame Command'r, cast away the 26 of April, 1717, where I buried One Hundred and Two Men Drowned". This map, with this legend, is reproduced at the back of Miss Mary R. Bangs's Old Cape Cod (Boston, 1920). The western initial portion of this waterway still exists, in the town of Orleans, and is known as "Jeremiah's Gutter". See A.P. Brigham, Cape Cod and the Old Colony, pp. 80-82.]

Sir, here is One Caleb Hopkines, Senr., of freetown, which has Dun a Great Dell of Damage to Your Excellency Officers in Doeing their Duty. I Pray Your Excellency would send a Order for his Coming to boston in Order to Answare what I shall Aledge aganst him.

Sir, Yr Excellency Most Obed. serv'tt

CYPRIAN SOUTHACK.

108. Examination of John Brown. May 6, 1717.[1]

[Footnote 1: Suffolk Court Files, no. 11945, paper 5; a fragment.]

The Substance of the Examinations of John Brown, etc. Taken by order of His Excellency the Governour on Munday the 6th of May 1717.

John Brown being interrogated saith, that he was born in the Island of Jamaica, is 25 years old and unmarried. About a year agoe he belonged to a Ship commanded by Captain Kingston, which in her voyage with Logwood to Holland was taken to the Leeward of the Havana by two Piratical Sloops, one commanded by Hornygold[2] and the other by a Frenchman called Leboose,[3] each having 70 men on board. The pirats kept the Ship about 8 or 10 daies, and then having taken out off her what they thought proper delivered her back to some of the men, who belonged to her. Leboose kept the Examinate on board his Sloop about 4 months, the English Sloop under Hornigolds command keeping company with them all that time. Off Cape Corante[4] they took two Spanish Briganteens without any resistance, laden with cocoa from Ma[l]aca. The Spaniards, not coming up to the pirats demand about the ransom, were put ashoar and their Briganteens burn'd. They sailled next to the Isle of Pines, where meeting with three or four English Sloops empty, they made use of them in cleaning their own, and gave them back. From thence they sailled in the latter end of May to Hispaniola, where they tarried about 3 months. The Examinate then left Leboose and went on board the Sloop commanded formerly by Hornygold, but at that time by one Bellamy, who upon a difference arising amongst the English Pirats because Hornygold refused to take and plunder English Vessels, was chosen by a great majority their Captain, and Hornygold departed with 26 hands in a Prize Sloop, Bellamy having then on board about 90 men, most of them English. Bellamy and Leboose sailled to the Virgin Islands and took several small fishing boats, and off St. Croix a French Ship laden with flower and fish from Canada, and having taken out some of the flower gave back the Ship. Plying to the Windward the morning they made Saba[5] they spy'd two Ships, which they chased and came up with, the one was commanded by Captain Richards,[6] the other by Capt. Tosor, both bound to the bay. Having plunder'd the Ships and taken out some young men, they dismist the rest and Tosors Ship and made a man of War of Richards's, which they put under the command of Bellamy, and appointed Paull Williams Captain of the Sloop. Next day they took a Bristol Ship[7] commanded by James Williams from Ireland laden with provisions, and having taken out what provisions they wanted and two or three of the Crew let her goe. Then they parted with their French consort at the Island of Blanco[8] and stood away with their Ship and Sloop to the windward passage, where in the latter end of February last they met with Captain Laurence Prince in a ship of 300 Ton called the Whido, with 18 guns mounted, and fifty men, bound from Jamaica to London, laden with Sugar, Indico, Jesuits bark and some silver and gold, and having given chase thre daies took him without any other resistance than his firing two chase guns at the Sloop, and came to an anchor at Long Island.[9] Bellamy's crew and Williams's consisted then of 120 men. They gave the Ship taken from Captain Richards to Captain Prince, and loaded her with as much of the best and finest goods as she could carry, and gave Captain Prince above twenty pounds in Silver and gold to bear his charges. They took 8 or 10 men belonging to Captain Prince; the Boatswain and two more were forced, the rest being volunteers. off Petteguavis[10] they took an English Ship hired by the French, laden with Sugar and Indico, and having taken out what they had occasion for, and some of the men, dismist her. Then they stood away for the Capes of Virginia, being 130 men in Company, and having lost sight of the Sloop the day before they made the land, they cruised ten daies, according to agreement between Bellamy and Williams, in which time they seized three ships and one Snow, Two of them from Scotland, one from Bristol, and the fourth a Scotch Ship, last from Barbadoes, with a little Rum and Sugar on board, so leaky that the men refused to proceed further. The Pirats sunk her. Having lost the Sloop they kept the Snow, which was taken from one Montgomery, being about 100 Ton, and manned her with 18 hands, which with her own Crew made up the number of 28 men; the other two Ships were discharged being first plundered. They made[11]

[Footnote 2: Benjamin Hornigold was a pirate captain of some fame; he soon after this surrendered to the governor of Bermuda, and "came in" under the king's proclamation of Sept. 5, 1717, which offered pardon to those pirates who should surrender within a given time. Charles Johnson, General History of the Pyrates (second ed., London, 1724), I. 35, 70, 71; II. 274-276.]

[Footnote 3: Id., I. 35, 184.]

[Footnote 4: Cape Corrientes, near the southwestern point of Cuba.]

[Footnote 5: A small Dutch island, east of St. Croix, and between St. Martin and St. Eustatius.]

[Footnote 6: The Sultana, James Richards. "The bay" means the Bay of Honduras.]

[Footnote 7: The St. Michael.]

[Footnote 8: An islet among the Virgin Islands, east of St. John, and not far from the Dead Man's Chest. The Windward Passage lies between Haiti and Cuba. Jesuits' bark is cinchona, from which quinine is made.]

[Footnote 9: One of the Bahamas.]

[Footnote 10: Petit Goave, a port in the southern part of Haiti.]

[Footnote 11: Here the fragment ends.]

109. Deposition of Thomas FitzGerald and Alexander Mackonochie. May 6, 1717.[1]

[Footnote 1: Suffolk Court Files, no. 11945, paper 9.]

The Deposition of Thomas Fitz Gerald, Marriner, aged about nineteen years, and late Mate of the Pink Mary Anne, belonging to Dublin (whereof Andrew Crumsty was lately Commander) and Alexander Mackconothy late Cook of the said Pink, aged fifty five years.

These Depon'ts Testify and say That on the twenty fourth day of April last past, they sailed from Nantasket harbour bound for New York, and on the twenty sixth day of the said month, being friday, in the morning about nine of the clock, they discovered a large Ship, and her Prize, which was a Snow, astern, and the large Ship came up with the said Pink Mary Ann, between nine and ten, and ordered us to strike our Colours, which accordingly we did, and then they shot ahead of us, and braced too, and hoisted out her boat and sent seven Men on board, Armed with their Musquets, pistols and Cutlashes (which Men are now in Boston Goal) and they commanded the said Capt. Crumpsty to take his Papers, and go aboard the said Ship with five of his hands and accordingly the said Crumpsty with five of his Men rowed aboard the said Pyrates Ship, and the seven Men tarryed aboard the Pink, and soon after the Pyrates sent their boat on board the said pink with four hands to get some of the Wine which they were Informed was on board the Pink, and accordingly they hoisted the pinks boat off of the hatches and opened the hatches and then went into the hold, but the Cable being Quoiled in the hatchway, they found it difficult to Come to the Wines in the hold, and so returned to their own Ship without any wine, Except five bottles of green wine which the found in the pinks Cabbin and carryed away, with some of the Cloaths which belonged to the pinks Company, and presently after the pyrates had hoisted their boat on board the great Ship, they gave Orders to the Pyrates on board the pink to steer North Northwest after them, which Course they followed till about four a Clock in the afternoon, and then the large Ship whereof Capt. Samuel Bellame was Commander, and the snow and pink lay too,[2] it being very thick foggy weather, And about half an hour after four a Clock a sloop came up with Capt. Bellames Ship and he hoisted out his boat and sent several men on board the Sloop and soon afterwards, Vizt. about five a Clock, the Commander of the snow bore away, and came under the stern of Capt. Bellames Ship and told him that they saw the Land; And thereupon Capt. Bellame Ordered the Pyrates on board the Pink to steer away North, which they did, and as soon as it began to be dark the sd Capt. Bellames Ship put out a light astern and also the snow and the sloop and the pink had their lights out; and about ten a Clock the weather grew thick and it lightned and rained hard and was so dark, that the pinks Comp. Could not see the shore till they were among the Breakers, when the Depon't Fitz Gerald was at helm, and had lost sight of the Great Ship, Snow and Sloop; and being among the breakers we thought it most proper and necessary to weere[3] the Pink, and before we could trim the head sails we run ashoar opposite to Sluts bush at the back of Stage harbour to the southward of Cape Codd[4] between ten and Eleven a Clock at night, And the seven Pyrates together with the Depon't and a young man named James Donovan tarryed on board the said Pink till break of day[5] and then found the shoar side of the Pink dry and so all of them went on shoar upon the Island called Poachy[6] beach, and there tarryed till about ten a Clock, when two Men came over in a Canno, Namely John Cole[7] and William Smith, who Carryed the seven pyrates over to the Main land, and then Cole came again to the Depon't and Inquired who they (meaning the pyrates) were, and the Depon't Mackconothy Answered they were pyrates and had taken the said pink, and soon after the said John Cole Informed Mr. Justice Done of Barnstable[8] thereof, by virtue of whose Warrant the said seven Pyrates were Apprehended, and the Depon'ts Journeyed with them to Boston, where they are now in Custody of the Keeper of His Maj'ties Goal as is aforesaid. And further the Depon'ts say not; but that the said Pink is Bilged on shoare, so that it is impossible to get her off.

THOS. FITZ GERALD

signum ALEXANDER [X] MACKCONOTHY

BOSTON May 6th 1717 Jurat May 8th, 1717

[Footnote 2: To.]

[Footnote 3: Wear, to come about before the wind.]

[Footnote 4: Slut's Bush was a rocky, swampy piece of land, well grown with berry-bushes, in the midst of the large isle of Nauset, that lay outside of the smaller Pochet Island and outside Stage or Nauset Harbor, the harbor of Eastham. Now, Slut's Bush ledge and Nauset Island are far out from the present shore and under deep water. On this mostly sandy coast wind and wave have made extraordinary changes. They are described, down to 1864, in an article by Amos Otis on "The Discovery of an Ancient Ship", in N.E. Hist. Gen. Register, XVIII. 37-44. Much of his information came from the grandson of John Doane, mentioned below, a grandson born not much later than 1717.]

[Footnote 5: In another deposition of Thomas Fitzgerald, reproduced in Trials of Eight Persons, he gives us a quaint glimpse of the pirates' psychology during this night of peril: "And in their Distress the [Pirates] ask'd the Deponent to Read to them the Common-Prayer Book, which he did about an Hour; And at break of Day they found the Shoar-side of the Pink dry."]

[Footnote 6: Pochet.]

[Footnote 7: See his testimony in doc. no. 112.]

[Footnote 8: Either John Doane, Esq., or his cousin Joseph. Both were justices of the peace for Barnstable County, but neither lived in Barnstable town; they were the leading residents of Eastham.]

James Donovan, within named, made oath to the truth of the within written Deposition, and further saieth that being upon deck on Friday in the afternoon, on which day the Pink was taken, Alexand'r Mackonothy being at the Helmn steering to windward of her Course, this Declar't heard John Brown, one of the Pirates now in Goal, say that for a small matter he would shute Mackonothy thro the head as soon as he would a Dog and he should never tell his story.

JAMES DONOVAN

Jurat Cor. May 8th 1717

Coram[9] PENN TOWNSEND } Justices of the JOHN CLARK } Peace OLIVER NOYES }

Attest. JOS MARION D. Secr'y.[10]

[Footnote 9: In the presence of.]

[Footnote 10: Deputy secretary of the province. Josiah Willard was secretary.]

110. Cyprian Southack to Governor Samuel Shute. May 8, 1717.[1]

[Footnote 1: Mass. Archives, vol. 51, pp. 289, 289a.]

EASTHAM May the 8, 1717

Maye itt Pleass Your Excellency

Sir, Captt. Gorham, Mr. Little, Mr. Cuttler and Mr. Russell, Gentt'men that I have Deputed, have Rid at Least Thirty miles a moung the Inhabtances, whome I have had Information of ther being at the Pirate Rack, and have Gott Concernable Riches out of her. the first men that want Doun to the Rack with the English man that was Saved out of the Rack, I shall Mention their Names to Your Excellency in Order for a Warrant to me for bringing them for boston before Your Excellency, or as You Pleass, Sir, for all thes Pepol are very stife and will not one[2] Nothing of what they Gott, on the Rack. Sir, Fryday 26 April, at 12 night, Pirate Ship Came a shoare. Saturday 27 Instant, at 5 morning, Came the English man that was Saved out of Pirate Ship,[3] Came to the house of Samuell harding, Two miles from the Rack. After a smalle time the saide harding took the English man on his Horse and Carred him to the Rack. thes Two made Serverall Turnes from the Rack to harding house, so they most Gett much Riches. by 10 Clock the same morning their Gott to the Rack a bout 10 men more, and Gott a Great Dell of Riches. Sunday morning, Joseph[4] Doane, Esqr., gott to the Rack but all was Gon of Vallue. Sir, he Comanded the Inhabtances to save what they Could for the King, which was them Things I Rett[5] to Your Excellency before of. Sir, the Curner[6] and his Jurey Putt a stop to serverall Things beloning to the Rack in Part for buering[7] Sixty Two men Came a shoare Dead from the Pirate Rack, the Curner and his Jurey says their Due is Eight Three Pounds. Sir, I am of the mind that the Curner and Jurey should have nothing for buering aney of thes men After they New them to be Pirats, and they had bured but Thirteen before they new them to be Pirats. as Your Excellency Pleass, I humbley Desier Your Excellency Orders to this Afare. the Curner name is Samuell freeman, for his stoping aney of the Rack Goods for Paye is very hard. Sir, the weather has ben very bad, and Great Sea, so we Can Due Nothing as yett on the Rack with my Whale boat and men, but se the Anchor Every Low Watter. Sir, If some Gentt'men ware Commissined here to Give Serverall of them their Oath Concerning the Rack, itt will be of Great Service. Sir, Coll. Ottis[8] and Joseph Doane, Esqr., are Very Good men.

[Footnote 2: Own.]

[Footnote 3: Thomas Davis; see his memorial, doc. no. 114.]

[Footnote 4: See doc. no. 109, note 8.]

[Footnote 5: Writ. The money on board the Whidah was claimed by the crown because of its being the product of piracy, not because of the shipwreck, for if man or cat or dog escaped alive from any shipwrecked vessel, its contents were technically not "wreck of the sea", belonging as such to the crown, but were reserved for the owners, with reasonable salvage to the preservers. A recent act, 12 Anne, II., ch. 18, provided that any who secreted goods saved from a wreck should be punished with a fine of treble value; but this act did not run in Massachusetts.]

[Footnote 6: Coroner. Investigation in cases of wreck and treasure-trove was part of the duties of his office.]

[Footnote 7: Burying.]

[Footnote 8: Col. John Otis, the chief magnate of Barnstable County, colonel of its militia, judge, member of the governor's council, and grandfather of James Otis the revolutionary orator.]

Sir, 72 Dead men are Come a shoare out Pirate ship to this Time.

The men that were Down first at the rack

Samuell Harding Jonathan Cole Joseph Collins Senr. Edward Knowles Abiel Harding Thomas Wood Samuell Horton Samuell Airy

Sir, Yr Excellency Most Obd. Servant

CYPRIAN SOUTHACK.

111. Deposition of Ralph Merry and Samuel Roberts. May 11, 16, 1717.[1]

[Footnote 1: Suffolk Court Files, no. 11945, paper 3.]

We, Ralph Merry and Samuel Roberts, mariners, both of full age, Joyntly and Severally testify and make Oath That on the twenty sixth day of April last we belonged to a certain Sloope Called the Fisher (whereof Robert Ingols was Commander), bound to Boston from Virginia, being laden with Tobacco, hides and other things. That Assoon as we arived within a few leagues off Cape Codd we met with a Ship of twenty eight guns called the Wedaw, which assoon as they came near, haled us and Demanded from whence we came. We told 'em That we came from Virginia and were bound for Boston. Then they asked us whether the Master was Acquainted here, meaning (as we suppose) with the Coast. Our Master Answered he knew it very well, Whereupon they Commanded our Master and Company to hoist out our boat, which we did, and then our Master and Mate went on board the said Ship. they, keeping our Master and Mate on board thereof, Sent four men Armed from thence on board of our Sloop, whereupon the said Ship stood away to the Northward and gave Orders to our Sloope to follow their Light, And being in the Night we lost Sight of said Ship And followed a Snowe light which was before in Company with her (which said Snow was a Prize the said Ship had taken off from the Capes of Virginia, as we were informed) untill the Snow was almost ashoar. then the said Snow came to an Anchor And Called to us to doe the same, which we Accordingly did, and lay there till about ten of the Clock the next day, being the twenty Seventh day of said month; then, the wind blowing off Shoar, they Cutt their Cable and bid us make the best of our way after them to the Eastward, and About three leagues off the Cape they, taking out of our Sloope what they pleased, Commanded us to goe on board the said Snow. then they, Cutting our Mast off by the board, the hatches of our Sloope being open, left her afloat in the Sea, then makeing the best of their way to Menhagen[2] at the Eastward, where we arrived the twenty ninth of said April, where they stayed and waited for the aforesaid Ship Wedaw Some time, but she came not, whereupon, thinking the Ship was lost, they fitted their Long boat and sent her down to Mentinacus,[3] where they tooke a Sloope belonging to Colonel Minot,[4] one Shallop belonging to Capt. Lane,[5] and three Scooners. They brought the Sloop and Shallop and (as we are Informed) the Sailes and Compasses of the three Scooners to Menhagen, whereupon they manned the last mentioned Sloope with ten hands and soe went after Capt. Cars Sloope, lying at Peniquid,[6] which they alsoe took a little distance from said Peniquid, but finding the Mast and Bowspreat not Serviceable they left her there, and brought the Master thereof on board the Snow then at Menhagen aforesaid. In these ten mens absence Came into Menhagen two Shallops from Marblehead, which the Snow tooke and Caused 'em to come to an Anchor there, and sent the men therein togeather With us the Depon'ts to prison upon Menhagen Island, where we lay till they had fitted the Sloop of Collonel Minots aforesaid with what they thought fit from the Snow, and soe departed and left the Snow and all the rest behind,[7] and leaving us to our Libertyes ordered the Skipper of the Shallope to carry us to Marblehead which they accordingly did, where we arrived yesterday, being the tenth day of May Instant.

RALPH MERRY SAM'LL ROBERTS Attest: JOS. MARION, D. Secr'y.

BOSTON, May 16, 1717 Sworne before the Hon'bl Lieutenant Governour and Council.

[Footnote 2: Monhegan, a small island on the coast of Maine, off Pemaquid Point.]

[Footnote 3: Matinicus, a small island farther east, southward from Rockland.]

[Footnote 4: Stephen Minot of Boston.]

[Footnote 5: Capt. John Lane of Malden, son of a noted Indian-fighter.]

[Footnote 6: Pemaquid.]

[Footnote 7: A letter from Capt. John Lane, dated at Winter Harbor May 19, shows the continuance of operations: "This moment Came A young man from Spurwinke which wass Taken by A pirat sloop of Aboute ninty men with Eight guns which is now att an anker In Cape Elesebth Roade ... they have Taken one sloop and one shallop which they keep with them". Maine Hist. Soc., Coll., second ser., IX. 357.]

112. Trial of Simon van Vorst and Others. [October], 1717.[1]

[Footnote 1: Suffolk Court Files, no. 10923; a fragment. The persons on trial were Simon van Vorst, born in New York, John Brown, born in Jamaica, Hendrick Quintor and Thomas Baker, both born in Holland, Peter Cornelius Hoof, born in Sweden (but the name is Dutch), John Shuan, a Frenchman, born in Nantes, and Thomas South, born in Boston, England. The trial began Oct. 18, 1717; all but South were condemned Oct. 22, and executed Nov. 15, "within flux and reflux of the sea."]

That one of the Prisoners asked the Depont. what he thought they were, to which Baker who stood by, said that the King had Given them a Commission to make their Fortune, and they were sworn to do it. After the pink was cast on shoar they said they were in as bad a Condition then as before.

Alexander Mackonachy, late Cook of the Pink Mary Anne of Dublin,[2] Saith, That on the 26th day of April last past, in the course of their Voyage from Nantasket to New York, they were taken by a pyrate Ship Called the Whido, Comanded by Capt. Samuel Bellamy, That all the Prisoners at the Barr came on board the sd Pink Armed, Except Thomas South and John Shuan, and made themselves Masters of the Pink; And that Simon Van Vorst ordered the Captain to go on board the Ship Whido with his Papers and five of his Company. The Depont. further Saith That the Pink was Cast away opposite to an Island Called Slutts Bush; and after the prisoners were Carryed to the Main Land they looked very sorrowfull and made all Imaginable speed in order to Escape from the Hands of Justice. That Thomas South behaved himself Civilly. That Thomas Baker Cutt down the Foremast and Mizen Mast of the Pink when she run on shoar.

[Footnote 2: See doc. no. 109.]

John Brett, Marriner, Testifyeth and Saith, That in the Month of June 1716 he was taken by two Pyrate Sloops, one Commanded by Capt. Samuel Bellamy and the other by Capt. Labous. They Damn'd the Depont. and bid him bring his Liquor on board. They Carryed him to the Island of Pynes, and he was detained a Prisoner by them there Eighteen days, During which time John Brown was as Active on board the Pyrate Sloop as the rest of the Company, he told a Prisoner then on board that he would hide him in the hold, and hinder him from Complaining against him, or telling his Story.

Thomas Checkley, Marriner, Saith, That he knows John Shuan the Prisoner at the Barr, That he belonged to the Tanner Frigot, One John Stover Master, and sometime in March last the said Ship or Frigot was taken in the prosecution of her Voyage from Pettyguavus to old France by Capt. Samuel Bellamy and Monsieur Lebous. they pretended to be Robbin Hoods Men. That Shuan Declared himself to be now a Pyrate, and went up and unrigged the Maintopmast by order of the pyrates, who at that time forced no Body to go with them, and said they would take no Body against their Wills.

Moses Norman says that he knows Thomas Brown, and saw him in Company with the Pyrates belonging to Capt. Bellamy and Monsr. Lebous when the Depont. was taken with Capt. Brett in the Month of June 1716. That he was Carryed to the Isle of Pynes, and kept Prisoner Seventeen or Eighteen days, During all which time the sd Thomas Brown was very Active on board of Capt. Labous.

John Cole Saith That on the twenty seventh day of April last he saw the Prisoners now at the Barr, in Eastham, soon after they were Cast on shore, that they tarryed a short time at his house, and lookt very much Dejected and Cast down. they Enquired the way to Rhode Island, and made great hast from his house tho he asked them to tarry and refresh themselves.

John Done, Esq., Saith that hearing there were some Pyrates Journeying towards Rhode Island, he pursued them with a Deputy Sheriff and other assistants, and seized the Prisoners, now at the Barr, at Eastham Tavern about the 27th of April last; When they Confessed that they belonged to Capt. Bellamy Comander of the Ship Whido, and had taken the Pink Mary Anne, in which they run on shoar.

After the aforenamed Witnesses were Examined, the Court in favour of the Prisoners by giving them time to make their Defence Adjournd till three a Clock post merediem.

The Court met about that time and the Prisoners were sent for and brought again to the Barr, when the President[3] Observed to them, that this Court had Given them time, till now, to make their own Defence, Then demanded what they had to say for themselves.

[Footnote 3: Governor Shute. The court consisted of the governor, William Dummer, lieutenant-governor, nine members of the council, John Menzies, vice-admiralty judge, the captain of H.M.S. Squirrel, then on the New England station, and the collector of the plantation duties at Boston. See doc. no. 201, note 1.]

Simon Van Vorst Alledged that he was forced by Capt. Bellamys Company to Do what he did, and would have mad known his Intentions to make his Escape from the Pyrates unto the Mate of the sd Pink, but that he understood by the Mates Discourse that he Inclined to be a Pyrate himself, and therefore he did not discover his mind to the Mate.

Thomas Brown pretended himself also to be a forced Man, but produced no Evidence to make it Appear to the Court.

Thomas South Alledged that he belonged to a Bristoll Ship[4] whereof one James Williams was Master, That he was taken by Capt. Bellamy and forced to tarry with him, otherwise was threatened to be put upon a Desolate Island where there was nothing to Support him.

[Footnote 4: The St. Michael.]

Thomas Baker Saith that he and Simon Van Vorst were both taken out of one Vessell, That he Attempted to make his Escape at Spanish Town,[5] and the Governour of that place seemed to favour his Design, till Capt. Bellamy and his Company sent the Governour word that they would burn and destroy the Town, if that the sd Baker and those that Concealed themselves with him were not delivered up, And afterwards he would have made his Escape at Crabb Island[6] but was hindred by four of Capt. Bellamy Compa.

[Footnote 5: The old Spanish capital of Jamaica, founded in 1525 by Diego Columbus under the name of Santiago de la Vega.]

[Footnote 6: See doc. no. 72, note 5.]

Hendrick Quintor saith That he was taken by Capt. Bellamy and Monsr. Labous; and they had Agreed to let him go to the Coast of Crocus[7] in the French Vessel which they took him in, But the Commander thereof soon after dyed and so Captn. Bellamy would not permit him to proceed the sd. Voyage and he was unavoidably forced to Continue among the Pyrates.

[Footnote 7: Caracas?]

Peter Cornelius Hoof Declares and Saith That he was taken by Capt. Bellamy in a Vessel whereof John Cornelius was Master, That the sd. Bellamys Company swore they would kill him unless he would Joyn with them in their unlawfull Designs.

John Shuan, by his Interpreter, Saith That he was sick at the time when Capt. Bellamy took him, and went on board the Pyrate Vessel at the Instance of Capt. Bellamy's Doctor, who advised him to stay with him till his Cure. And that when he went on board the Pink Mary Anne he did not Carry any Arms with him; and that he hoped by going on board the Pink he should the sooner make his Escape from the Pyrates, for that he had a better way of getting his Living than by Pyrating.

The Evidence for the King being fully heard, and also the Pleas and Allegations made by the Prisoners at the Barr, His Majesty's Attorney General[8] in a very handsome and learned speech summed up the Evidence and made his Remarques upon the whole, and the Court was cleared, and the Evidence and pleadings thereupon against the Prisoners, with their Defences, having been duly considered, and the Question put,[9]

[Footnote 8: Paul Dudley, acting as king's advocate before the special commission appointed under the act of 11 and 12 Will. III. ch. 7. See doc. no. 104, note 1.]

[Footnote 9: Here this fragmentary record of the trial ends. On Oct. 22 Van Vorst, Brown, Quintor, Hoof, Shuan, and Baker were condemned and sentenced to death. Cotton Mather records in his Diary, II. 483, that on Nov. 2 he had obtained a reprieve, perhaps a pardon, for one who was more penitent and less guilty than the others (South or Davis? but both had been acquitted). On Nov. 15 he records, II. 488, "Six pirates executed. I took a long and sad Walk with them, from the Prison to the Place of Execution", instructed them, and prayed with them. Before the end of the year he published Instructions to the Living, from the Condition of the Dead, A Brief Relation of Remarkables in the Shipwreck of above One Hundred Pirates, Who were Cast away in the Ship Whido, on the Coast of New-England, April 26, 1717, And in the Death of Six, who after a Fair Trial at Boston, were Convicted and Condemned, Octob. 22, And Executed, Novemb. 15, 1717, With some Account of the Discourse had with them on the way to their Execution, And a Sermon preached on their Occasion (Boston, 1717). In the pamphlet The Trials of Eight Persons we see Van Vorst and Baker, properly repentant, singing a Dutch psalm on their way to execution.]

113. Trial of Thomas Davis. October 28, 1717.[1]

[Footnote 1: Suffolk Court Files, fragment 99. Davis was tried separately, on Oct. 28, and acquitted on Oct. 30.]

Then the Kings Evidences were called into Court and, no Objection agt them being made by the Prisoner,

Owen Morris, Marriner, was first Examined upon Oath, Who solemnly Testifyed and Declared that he knew the Prisoner at the Barr, That he belonged to the Ship St. Michael, whereof James Williams was Master, and in the Month of September 1716 They left Bristol bound to Jamaica and in December following the said Ship was taken by two Pyrat Sloops, one comanded by Capt. Samuel Bellamy, and the other by Louis Le Boose, about Twenty Leagues off Sabia,[2] That they Gave the said Williams his Ship and Detained the Prisoner, because he was a Carpenter and a Singleman, together with Three others of the Ships Company. And further the Dep't Saith that the Prisoner was very Unwilling to goe with Bellamy and prevailed with him by reason of his Intreatys to promise that he should be Discharged the next Vessell that was taken, and afterwards the Dep't was again taken in the Ship Whido, Commanded by Capt. Prince, by the said Captain Bellamy, who was then Commander of the Ship Sultana, taken from Capt. Richards as the Dep't understood, and then he saw the Pris'r aboard the said Ship. At which time the Pris'r reminded the said Bellamy of his promise. When he asked him if he was willing to goe he answered, yes, and then the said Capt. Bellamy replyed if the Company would Consent he should go. And thereupon he asked his Comp'y if they were willing to lett Davis the Carpenter go, Who Expressed themselves in a Violent manner saying no, Dam him, they would first shoot him or Whip him to Death at the Mast.

[Footnote 2: Saba; see doc. no. 108, note 5.]

Thomas South, Marriner, lately taken by Capt. Samuel Bellamy in the Pyrate Ship Whido, Cast away upon this Coast, and Discharged upon his Tryal, was admitted an Evidence, and being Accordingly Sworn Saith; That the said Bellamy while he was in Command of the said Ship Whido took a Scotch Vessel off the Capes of Virginia last Spring, Cutt down her Masts and Sunk her. That he heard the said Thomas Davis went on Board her: but I did not see him. That this Depo't Thought it not prudent to be too familiar with the Prisoner[3] because it might tend to Create a Jealousy in the Pyrates, that the Depo't and the Pris'r (whom they Suspected, because he was a forced man) would runn away together, and The Depo't Saith further that Capt. James Williams, Commander of the Ship St. Michael (whose Carpenter the Pris'r was) Intreated the said Capt. Bellamy when he took him to lett the Pris'r go. But the Ships Comp'y would by no means Consent thereto by reason he was a Carpenter, And swore that they would shoot him before they would lett him go from them.

[Footnote 3: He had been a shipmate of Davis on the St. Michael.]

Capt. John Brett, Marriner, Sworn, Saith that he was taken by Capt. Samuel Bellamy before the Ship Sultania was taken from Capt. Richards, and then it was the Custome among the Pyrates to force no Prisoners, but those that remained with them were Voluntiers.

Capt. Thomas Fox, sworn, saith that he was taken by the Pyrates in July last and Robb'd, and they Questioned him whether anything was done to the Pyrates in Boston Goall. The Depo't Answered he knew nothing about them, and in particular a Dutchman belonging to the Pyrate asked him about his Consort, a Dutch Man, in Boston Prison, and said that if the Prisoners Suffered they would Kill every Body they took belonging to New England.

Seth Smith, Prison keeper in Boston, sworn, Saith that when the Prisoner at the Barr was first brought to Goal his Illness hindered their talking together, But sometime after as they were discoursing the Depo't observed to the Prisoner that if he would be Ingenious and make a Confession he might save his Life and be a good Evidance against the other Pyrates in Prison, To which the Prisoner made answer that he was abused by Several of the Pyrates that were Drowned and was Glad he had got from them, but knew nothing against the Rest of the Pyrates in Prison.

Then the Kings Council moved the Court that Capt. Thomas Glyn, a Prisoner for Debt upon Execution, might be brought into Court to give Evidence on his Majestys behalf in this Tryal, Whereupon the Court directed the Sheriffs who have the keeping of his Majestys Goal to bring the said Glyn into Court.

Capt. Isaac Morris, Sworn, Saith That on the 14th of September 1716 he was taken by the Pyrates but knows nothing of Capt. Bellamy or his accomplices.

Capt. Thomas Glyn, being brought into Court by the Sheriffs and Interrogated upon Oath, Saith that he never knew the Prisoner.

114. Memorial of Thomas Davis. 1717.[1]

[Footnote 1: Suffolk Court Files, fragment 26283, paper 2. With this memorial we may connect a passage in the pamphlet Trials: "Mr. Valentine [counsel for Davis] moved, That an Affidavit under the firm seal of a Notary Publick in Great Britain, and in favour of the prisoner, should be read in open Court", but the request was denied, as contrary to the act of Parliament requiring all evidence respecting pirates to be given viva voce. Davis is recorded as a shipwright, aged 22, born in Carmarthenshire, who "had used the sea these five years".]

Province of the Massachusetts Bay. To His Excellency Samuel Shute, Esquire, Governour, and the Honourable His Majesties Council for the said Province.

The Memorial and humble Representation of Thomas Davis of Bristol in Great Britain, Shipwright,

Sheweth, That in the month of September last past he sailed out of Bristol as Carpenter of the Ship St. Michael, whereof James Williams was the Commander, bound for Jamaica, and on or about the sixteenth day of December following We met two Pyrate Sloops, One Commanded by Capt Samuel Bellame, and the other by Monsr. Louis Le Bou[s], who took the said ship about twenty Leagues off of Sabia and Carried us to the Island of Blanco, w[h]ere we were kept till the ninth day of January when your Memo. (with about fourteen more Prisoners taken by the said Pyrate Sloope) was forced on board the ship Sultan Gally, taken from Capt. John Richards, then under the said Bellames Command, And afterwards the said Bellame took another ship called the Whiddo, and your Memo., with the rest of the said Ships Compa., Came in her upon this Coast, where she was Cast away, as is very well known, and your Memo, (with one Jno. Julian[2]) only Escaped. And since his Imprisonm't he is Informed That some have Reported That your Memo. was several times on board the said ship after she was Cast away and knew where a considerable part of her Treasure was, and that he had Concealed some of it;[3] and many other things have been given out Concerning your Memo. very falsely, to the great prejudice of your Memo., Who is altogether Ignorant of what is Alledged against him, And hath already Discharged his Conscience by making a true and full Discovery of all he knows referring to the premises. But your Memo. being a stranger was not Credited and therefore he had no better Fare than the Pyrates, being in Chains as well as they; Whereas he declares from his heart that he was forced along with them, very Contrary to his will and to his great grief and sorrow, and was no ways Active among them any further than he was Compelled.

[Footnote 2: So the manuscript reads, but it is doubtless an error for "Jno. Indian", which in the handwriting of that day would look much the same; we know that one Englishman and one Indian alone escaped, and in the printed Trials it was testified that the pirates had "one Lambeth and one Indian born at Cape Cod for Pilots."]

[Footnote 3: See doc. no. 110.]

And forasmuch as your Memo. understands that the Pyrates in Prison suspect that he will make such discoverys as will not be pleasing to them, he is fearfull least they should hurt him, if not deprive him of life, to prevent his Testimony against them. Your Memo. therefore and for the Considerations before mentioned Humbly prays your Excellency and Honours will so far Indulge him as to free him from his Chains and Imprisonm't with the pyrates, and that he may have some Apartm't seperate from them, and that such other Relief may be Given to your poor pet'r (who is Innocent of what is laid to his Charge) as the matter will bear, and as to your Excellency and Honours in your great Moderation and Compassion shall seem meet.

And your Memo. (as in Duty bound) shall ever pray, etc.

THOMAS DAVIS.

115. Petition of William Davis. 1717.[1]

[Footnote 1: Suffolk Court Files, fragment 26283, paper 2. There were several oral witnesses to Thomas Davis's good character.]

To His Excellency the Governour and Council

The humble Petition of William Davis of Bristol Carpenter and Father of the said Thomas Davis,

Sheweth, That the said Thomas Davis from his youth up hath been a Dutiful and Obedient son, and his life and Deportm't has been always Regular and becoming as well as Peaceable, and your poor Pet'r prays your Excellency and Honours will Compassionate him and extend your Favour and Indulgence to his son as far as shall stand with your Wisdom and Clemency.

And your Pet'r shall pray, etc.

WILLIAM DAVIS.

Capt. John Gilbert, Marriner, belonging to Bristol, Testifyeth and saith That he well knew Thomas Davis (son of the abovenamed William Davis) for these seven or eight years last past, and that he has had a good Education in a Religious and Orderly Family, and his Conversation, Carriage and behavour all that while was very decent and becoming, and this Depon't has no reason to think but that he always lived a well ordered life, having never heard to the Contrary.

And further Saith not.

JNO. GILBERT.



PRIZE COURTS.

116. Sir Henry Penrice to the Secretary of the Admiralty. November 29, 1718.[1]

[Footnote 1: Public Record Office, Admiralty 1:3669. This letter was apparently addressed to the secretary of the Admiralty, Josiah Burchett. Sir Henry Penrice was judge of the High Court of Admiralty from 1715 to 1751.]

Sir,

Since I had the Honour of your letter I have looked into the Registers Office,[2] and there find Copies of the Orders of Council, of Commissions for granting Letters of Mart, of Commissions for proceeding in Prize Courts, and of Warrants to the Judge of the High Court of Admiralty thereupon, in the years 1664, 1672, 1689 and 1702,[3] of which if you please you may have Copies if they will be of any service in the present Case.

[Footnote 2: The office of the register of the Admiralty.]

[Footnote 3: At the beginnings, respectively, of the Second Dutch War, the Third Dutch War, and the wars of William and of Anne against France.]

Now as to the Question proposed whether there is Occasion for any further power, to the severall Courts of Admiralty in the plantations, other Remote parts, or at home, to Try and Condemn such Prizes as may be Taken?

As far as I have observed during the course of the Wars with Holland, France and Spain, the High Court of Admiralty have proceeded in all Prize causes, by Virtue of Warrants from the Lord High Admiral or Commissioners for Executing that Office, in pursuance of Commissions under the Great Seal directed to them for that purpose;[4] and Commissioners were appointed at the severall Plantations to take the Examinations of Witnesses in preparatory and to transmit them hither, together with the Ships papers, and in case the ship and Goods were perishable they had a Power to Appraise and sell, and keep the produce in their hands, till after Sentence, that the Merchants might have time, and be at a Certainty, where to enter their Claims.

[Footnote 4: Such a commission (1748) is printed in Marsden, Law and Custom of the Sea, II. 297, and (1756) in Stokes, View of the Constitution of the American Colonies, p. 278.]

But after the American Act, the Vice-Admiralty Courts in the Plantations, by Authority thereof,[5] proceeded in Prize Causes, which I conceive they had no right to do before; and that power being during the late War only, by Virtue of that Act, I presume it is now determined. Therefore upon a Grant of new Powers, I must humbly submit it to their Lordships Consideration, whether it may be for the Honour and Service of his Majesty, to permit the Vice-Admiralty Courts in the Plantations to proceed in Prize Causes, since it is much to be feared they are not well versed in the Laws of Nations, and Treaties between Us and other States; and it is well known that they do not proceed in that Regular Manner as is practised in His Majesties High Court of Admiralty; besides it will be a Considerable Time before Orders from their Lordships upon any Emergency can reach the Vice Admiralty Courts in the plantations, for want of which great Inconveniences may arise; whereas the Admiralty Court here is under their Lordships Eye and Immediate direction, and always ready to observe such Instructions as the Nature of affairs shall require.

[Footnote 5: 6 Anne ch. 37, "An Act for the Encouragement of the Trade to America" (1707), sect. 2.]

But this is most humbly submitted to Their Lordships great Wisdom, by, Sir,

Your most humble servant

H. PENRICE.

DOCTORS COMMONS, November 29, 1718.



PIRACY OF BARTHOLOMEW ROBERTS.

117. Extract from the Boston News-Letter. August 22, 1720.[1]

[Footnote 1: From the file possessed by the Massachusetts Historical Society.]

Boston, On Monday last, the 15th Currant, arrived here the Ship Samuel, about eleven Weeks from London, and ten from Lands end, Capt. Samuel Carry Commander,[2] who in his Voyage hither, on the 13th of July past, in the Latitude of 44, about 30 or 40 Leagues to the Eastward of the Banks of New-foundland, was accosted and taken by two Pirates, viz., A Ship of 26 Guns, and a Sloop of ten, both Commanded by Capt. Thomas Roberts,[3] having on board about a hundred Men, all English: The dismal Account whereof follows:

[Footnote 2: Sewall notes in his diary, under this same date of Aug. 15, "Cary arrives who had been pillaged by the Pirats." Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll., XLVII. 259.]

[Footnote 3: For Thomas read Bartholomew. Bartholomew Roberts was one of the most famous pirates of his time, i.e., of the years 1718-1724, the heyday of piracy in the eighteenth century. Capt. Charles Johnson, in his account of that period, A General History of the Pyrates (London, 1724), devotes nearly a third of his book (pp. 161-260 of the first edition) to Roberts, as "having made more Noise in the World" than others, and declares (p. 3 of preface) that "Roberts and his Crew, alone, took 400 Sail, before he was destroy'd". Of his appearance we have this picture, from the same chronicler's account of his last fight: a tall dark Welshman of near forty, "Roberts himself made a gallant Figure, being dressed in a rich crimson Damask Wastcoat, and Breeches, a red Feather in his Hat, and a Gold Chain Ten Times round his Neck, a Sword in his Hand, and two pair of Pistols hanging at the End of a Silk Sling, which was flung over his Shoulders, according to the Fashion of the Pyrates" (p. 213). His meteoric career of piracy lasted but four years.]

The first thing the Pirates did, was to strip both Passengers and Seamen of all their Money and Cloths which they had on board, with a loaded Pistol held to every ones breast ready to shoot him down, who did not immediately give an account of both, and resign them up. The next thing they did was, with madness and rage to tare up the Hatches, enter the Hould like a parcel of Furies, where with Axes, Cutlashes, etc., they cut, tore and broke open Trunks, Boxes, Cases and Bales, and when any of the Goods came upon Deck which they did not like to carry with them aboard their Ship, instead of tossing them into the Hould again they threw them over-board into the Sea. The usual method they had to open Chests was by shooting a brace of Bullets with a Pistol into the Key-hole to force them open. The Pirates carryed away from Capt. Carry's Ship aboard their own 40 barrels of Powder, two great Guns, his Cables, etc. and to the value of about nine or ten Thousand Pounds Sterling worth of the Choicest Goods he had on board. There was nothing heard among the Pirates all the while, but Cursing, Swearing, Dam'ing and Blaspheming to the greatest degree imaginable, and often saying they would not go to Hope point[4] in the River of Thames to be hung up in Gibbets a Sundrying as Kidd and Bradish's Company did, for if it should chance that they should be Attacked by any Superiour power or force, which they could not master, they would immediately put fire with one of their Pistols to their Powder, and go all merrily to Hell together! They often ridicul'd and made a mock at King George's Acts of Grace[5] with an Oath, that they had not got Money enough, but when they had, if he then did grant them one, after they sent him word, they would thank him for it. They forced and took away with them Capt. Carry's Mate, and his Seamen, viz. Henry Gilespy, Mate,[6] Hugh Minnens,[7] both North Britains, Michael Le Couter, a Jersey Man, and Abraham, a Kentish Man, could not learn his Sir-name, the Captains Book being carryed away, (except one Row born in Dublin which they would not take because born in Ireland),[8] holding a Pistol with a brace of Bullets to each of their breasts to go with them, or be presently shot down, telling them that at present they wanted none of their Service; but when they came to any Action, they should have liberty to Fight and Defend the Ship as they did, or else immediately be shot, that they should not tell tales. They had on board the Pirate near 20 Tuns of Brandy. However the Pirates made themselves very merry aboard of Capt. Carry's Ship with some Hampers of fine Wines that were either presents, or sent to some Gentlemen in Boston; it seems they would not wait to unty them and pull out the Corks with Skrews, but each man took his bottle and with his Cutlash cut off the Neck and put it to their Mouths and drank it out.[9] Whilst the Pirates were disputing whither to sink or burn Capt. Carry's Ship they spy'd a Sail that same evening, and so let him go free.

[Footnote 4: Probably a derisive phrase of their own, for the ordinary place of execution near Wapping Old Stairs.]

[Footnote 5: Proclamations offering pardon to pirates who should surrender themselves within a given time. Two such proclamations of George I., Sept. 5, 1717, and Dec. 21, 1718, are printed in the American Antiquarian Society's volume of royal proclamations relating to America, Transactions, XII. 176-178.]

[Footnote 6: When the survivors of Roberts's crew were tried at Cape Corso Castle on the African coast in March and April, 1722, and fifty-two of them executed, this man ("Harry Glasby") was acquitted, for, though he had risen to be master of the principal pirate ship, there was abundant evidence (Johnson, first ed., pp. 186, 235-238) that he had always been unwilling to continue with the pirates, that he had tried to escape, and that he had often shown himself humane. Scott uses the name of Harry Glasby in The Pirate, vol. II., ch. 11, borrowing it from Johnson.]