The Indians along the Coast came on Board and traffick'd with all Freedom, and he punctually performed his Bargains, till about the Time he was ready to sail; and then thinking he should have no further Occasion for them, he made no Scruple of taking their Goods, and setting them on Shore without any Payment in Money or Goods, which they little expected; for as they had been used to deal with pyrates, they always found them Men of Honour in the Way of Trade: A People, Enemies to Deceit, and that scorn'd to rob but in their own Way.
Kid put some of his Men on Board the Queda Merchant, and with this Ship and his own sail'd for Madagascar; as soon as he was arrived and had cast Anchor, there came on Board of him a Canoe, in which were several Englishmen, who had formerly been well acquainted with Kid; as soon as they saw him they saluted him, and told him, they were informed he was come to take them, and hang them, which would be a little unkind in such an old Acquaintance; Kid soon dissipated their Doubts, by swearing he had no such Design, and that he was now in every Respect their Brother, and just as bad as they; and calling for a Cup of Bomboo, drank their Captain's Health.
These Men belong'd to a Pyrate Ship, call'd the Resolution, formerly the Mocco Merchant, whereof one Captain Culliford was Commander, and which lay at an Anchor not far from them; Kid went on Board with them, promising them his Friendship and Assistance, and Culliford in his Turn came on Board of Kid; and Kid to testify his Sincerity in Iniquity, finding Culliford in want of some Necessaries, made him a Present of an Anchor and some Guns, to fit him out for the Sea again.
The Adventure Galley was now so old and leaky, that they were forced to keep two Pumps continually going, wherefore Kid shifted all the Guns and Tackle out of her into the Queda Merchant, intending her for his Man of War; and as he had divided the Money before, he now made a Division of the Remainder of the Cargo: Soon after which, the greatest Part of the Company left him, some going on Board Captain Culliford, and others absconding in the Country, so that he had not above forty Men left.
He put to Sea and happened to touch at Amboyna, one of the Dutch Spice Islands, where he was told, that the News of his Actions had reach'd England, and that he was there declared a Pyrate.
The Truth on't is, his Pyracies so alarmed our Merchants, that some Motions were made in Parliament, to enquire into the Commission that was given him, and the Persons who fitted him out: These Proceedings seem'd to lean a little hard upon the Lord Bellamont, who thought himself so much touch'd thereby, that he published a Justification of himself in a Pamphlet after Kid's Execution. In the mean Time, it was thought adviseable, in order to stop the Course of these Pyracies, to publish a Proclamation, offering the King's free Pardon to all such pyrates as should voluntarily surrender themselves, whatever Pyracies they had been guilty of at any Time, before the last Day of April, 1699. — That is to say, for all Pyracies committed Eastward of the Cape of Good Hope, to the Longitude and Meridian of Socatora, and Cape Camorin. In which Proclamation, Avery and Kid were excepted by Name.
When Kid left Amboyna he knew nothing of this Proclamation, for certainly had he had Notice of his being excepted in it, he would not have been so infatuated, to run himself into the very Jaws of Danger; but relying upon his Interest with the Lord Bellamont, and fancying, that a French Pass or two he found on Board some of the Ships he took, would serve to countenance the Matter, and that Part of the Booty he got would gain him new Friends. — I say, all these Things made him flatter himself that all would be hushed, and that
Justice would but wink at him. — Wherefore he sail'd directly for New-York, where he was no sooner arrived, but by the Lord Bellamont's Orders, he was secured with all his Papers and Effects. Many of his Fellow-Adventurers who had forsook him at Madagascar, came over from thence Passengers, some to New England and some to Jersey; where hearing of the King's Proclamation for pardoning of pyrates, they surrendered themselves to the Governor of those Places: At first they were admitted to Bail, but soon after were laid in strict Confinement where they were kept for some time, till an Opportunity happened of sending them with their Captain over to England to be tried.
Accordingly a Sessions of Admiralty being held at the Old Baily, in May 1701, Captain Kid, Nicholas Churchill, James How, Robert Lumley, William Jenkins, Gabriel Loff, Hugh Parrot, Richard Barlicorn, Abel Owens,and Darby Mullins, were arraign'd for Pyracy and Robbery on the High Seas, and all found guilty, except three; these were Robert Lumley, William Jenkins, and Richard Barlicorne, who proving themselves to be Apprentices to some of the Officers of the Ship, and producing their Indentures in Court, were acquitted.
The three above-mentioned, tho’ they were proved to be concern'd in taking and sharing the Ship and Goods mentioned in the Indictment, yet, as the Gentlemen of the long Robe rightly distinguished, there was a great Difference between their Circumstances and the rest; for there must go an Intention of the Mind and a Freedom of the Will to the committing an Act of Felony or Pyracy. A Pyrate is not to be understood to be under Constraint, but a free Agent; for in this Case, the bare Act will not make a Man guilty, unless the Will make it so.
Now a Servant, it is true, if he go voluntarily and have his Proportion, he must be accounted a Pyrate, for then he acts upon his own Account, and not by Compulsion; and these Persons, according to the Evidence, received their Part, but whether they accounted to their Masters for their Shares afterwards, is the Matter in Question, and what distinguishes them as free Agents or Men, that did go under the Compulsion of their Masters, which being left to the Consideration of the Jury, they found them Not Guilty.
Kid was tryed upon an Indictment of Murder also, viz. for killing Moor the Gunner, and found guilty of the same. Nicholas Churchill and James How pleaded the King's Pardon, as having surrendered themselves within the Time limited in the Proclamation, and Colonel Bass, Governor of West Jersey, to whom they surrendered, being in Court, and called upon, proved the same; however, this Plea was over-ruled by the Court, because there being four Commissioners named in the Proclamation, viz. Captain Thomas Warren, Israel Hayes, Peter Delannoye, and Christopher Pollard, Esqrs; who were appointed Commissioners, and sent over on Purpose to receive the Submissions of such pyrates as should surrender, it was adjudged no other Person was qualified to receive their Surrender, and that they could not be intitled to the Benefit of the said Proclamation, because they had not in all Circumstances complied with the Conditions of it.
Darby Mullins urg'd in his Defence, that he serv'd under the King's Commission, and therefore could not disobey his Commander without incurring great Punishments; that whenever a Ship or Ships went out upon any Expedition under the King's Commissioners, the Men were never allowed to call their Officers to an Account, why they did this, or, why they did that, because such a Liberty would destroy all Discipline; that if any Thing was done which was unlawful, the Officers were to answer it, for the Men did no more than their Duty in obeying Orders. He was told by the Court, that acting