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R  E  A  S  O  N  S

For  Reducing  the

Pyrates  at  Madagascar:

AND

PROPOSALS humbly offered to the Honourable
House of Commons, for effecting the same.

THAT certain Pyrates having some years since found the Island of Madagascar to be the most proper, if not the only Place in the World for their Abode, and carrying on their Destructive Trade with Security, betook themselves thither; and being since increased to a formidable Body, are become a manifest Obstruction to Trade, and Scandal to our Nation and Religion, being most of them English, at least four Fifths.

That Madagascar is one of the Largest islands in the World, and very Fruitful, lies near the Entrance into the East-Indies, and is divided into a great many petty Kingdoms independant of each other, so that there is no making Application to any Supream Monarch (or indeed any else) to Expel or Destroy the Pyrates there.

That upon a general Peace, when Multitudes of Soldiers and Seamen will want Employment; or by length of Time, and the Pyrates generating with the Women of the Country, their Numbers should be increased, they may form themselves into a Settlement of Robbers, as Prejudicial to Trade as any on the Coast of Affrica.

For it's natural to consider, That all Persons owe by Instinct a Love to the Place of their Birth: Therefore the present Pyrates must desire to return to their Native Country; and if this present Generation should be once Extinct, their Children will have the same Inclination to Madagascar as these have to England, and will not have any such Affection for England, altho' they will retain the Name of English; and consequently all those succeeding Depredations committed by them will be charged to the Account of England. Notwithstanding they were not born of us, so that this seems the only Time for Reducing them to their Obedience, and preventing all those evil Consequences.

It must therefore be allow'd to be a very desirable an necessary Thing, that they should be suppressed in Time; and that if it ever be effected, it must be either by Force or Perswasion.

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[And as] to the Former, it seems morally Impossible to reduce them by force, for the pyrates have, by their liberality in bestowing part of their booties on the inhabitants, so gain'd their love and esteem that, should any superior force be sent to reduce them, they might readily march up far into the country and be safe.

Fair means is the only way to reclaim them; and in order to it endeavours of that nature have been used, but so ill managed that several of the Pyrates who relied upon promises (and even Proclamations) and thereupon surrender'd themselves, having lost some their lives, all their effects, and been treated in a most inhumane manner, it is not to be expected the rest should come in without more ample security for the safety both of their lives and treasure, but have declared they are still willing to come in, on condition they were rendered secure to their satisfaction.

And though their treasure has been all got by robbery, yet since it can never be restored to the owners, having been taken (mostly, if not wholly) from the subjects of the Great Mogull, etc., and now lies buried or useless in or near Madagascar, it's much better they should be permitted to bring it to England with safety, where it may do good, &c., and the Pyrates be reclaimed and become bold and skilful mariners and subjects of H.M. &c.

... Proposes that a person of considerable quality, well known to them, be sent with a pardon and conditions of surrender; and escort them to England with a squadron of 4 or 5 H. M. ships.... [2 more pages follow -- Printed, 1707.]

For the New-York Daily Gazette.

Mr. M'Lean:
      In sending the anecdote, published in your Gazette of Friday, and commented upon in the Advertiser of Saturday last, I had not even the most distant thought or design of depreciating the very respectable character of the Earl of Bellamont, formerly Governor both of New-York and Massachusetts. To tread lightly, upon the ashes of the dead, hath ever been a rule from which I have not intentionally deviated, even where great failings have been manifest. The anecdote was fairly related, as it was mentioned to me by an ancestor, a sincere disciple of truth and justice, and therefore incapable od misrepresenting intentionally; and notwithstanding what Smith and Hutchinson may have said (for I have not their histories by me) I am inclined still to think the story to be substantially as you have related it...

H O M O.        

N. B. ... "Richard Coote, Lord Coloony, of the kingdom of Ireland, was in 1695 advanced to the dignity of Earl of Bellamont, and in the beginning of the same year his Lordship was named by the King, to be his Majesty's Governor of New-York, a place then remarkably infected with the two dangerous diseases of an unlawful trade, and of the practice of piracy; which employment he was chiefly induced to accept... with those qualifications more likely than any other... to put a stop to that illegal trade, and to the growth of piracy..."

"The Earl, after accepting the post, in a discourse with Colonel Robert Levingston, a person of considerable estate and fair reputation, and who had several employments in that province, took occasion to mention the scandal that lay upon New-York on those accounts, and expressing a zeal to put a stop to that pyratical trade, the Colonel proposed the employing of Captain William Kid, lately arrived thence in a trading sloop of his own, who knew the principal pyrates, and their usual resorts, and who would undertake to seize most of them, in case he might be employed in one of the King's ships, a good sailor, of about thirty guns and 150 men. His Lordship acquainted the King with the proposal, and his Majesty consulted the Admiralty; but the war employing all his ships, and the great want of seamen, together with the remoteness of the voyage, and the uncertainty of meeting with, or taking the pyrates, occasioned the laying aside of this project as impracticable at that time."

"Colonel Levingston finding no hopes of succeeding this way, proposed to his Lordship, that if persons of consideration might be induced to join in the expence of fitting out a proper ship, he had such an opinion of Kid's capacity and integrity, that himself and Kid would be at the fifth part of the charge, offering to become bound with him for his faithful execution of the commission, and safe bringing back of the vessel. His Lordship imparted this second overture to the King, who approved highly of the design, and declared, as an encouragement to the undertakers, that they should have a grant of Kid's captures, so far as they might belong to his Majesty, except a certain reservation, chiefly to shew that he was a partner in the undertaking."

"Upon this encouragement, the Earl engaged the Lord Chancellor Somers, the Lords Shrewsbury, Romney, and Orford, with others, to advance near £6000 in fitting out the Adventure-galley, and 10 December 1695 Kid had a commission from the Admiralty as a private man of war, and (that empowering him only to act against the French) another under the great seal 26 January, with full power to apprehend all pyrates he should meet with, and bring them to a legal trial, in order to suffer the punishment os the law."

He sailed from London in February, and the first news of him (contrary to the expectation and intention of the adventurers) was about August 1698, that the East-India Company informed the Lords Justices, they had received intelligence from their factors, that Kid had committed several acts of pyracy, particularly in seizing a Moor's ship, called the Quedah Merchant; and the first news of his return into the American seas, was by a letter from the President and Council of Nevis to the Secretary of State, dated 18 May 1699; after which he sailed to Rhode Island, and thence sent one Emmot to the Earl of Bellamont at Boston, who informed him, that Kid had left the Quedah Merchant, which he took in India, in a creek on the coast of Hispaniola, with goods in her to a great value: that he was come thither to make his terms in a sloop, which had on board goods to the value of ten thousand pounds, and was able to make his innocence appear by many witnesses."

"His Lordship, overjoyed at the news, concerted to see him brought to justice, communicated his intention of seizing him to the Council, and with their approbation wrote him a letter, assuring him, that if he would make his innocence appear, he might safely come to Boston. In a few days Kid returned an answer, filled with protestations of his innocence, and 1 June 1699 landing at Boston, was examined before the Earl, and the council of that province; when his answers being very trifling and evasive, and Levingston demanding the delivery of the bond to him, wherein he stood engaged for Kid's honest performance of the expedition; his Lordship, 6 June, had Kid and some of his crew committed close prisoners, and the cargo entrusted with persons appointed by the council; being determined to touch none of the effects himself, nor take one step but in concurrence with the council."

"When this was done, his Lordsoip, with great dexterity and diligence, regained a considerable part of the goods, Kid had concealed in several places; and by letters, 8 July, transmitted the whole transactions to the Secretary of State and Council of Trade, pressing, that immediate care might be taken to send for them in order to their trial, as there was no law in New England to punish pyracy with death. Accordingly 12 April, 1700, he was brought to London, and on his examination before the Admiralty committed close prisoner to Newgate, where he remained till about the beginning of March following, when the House of Commons examined into the matter, and on the 28th March 1701, after a very long debate upon the question, that a grant passed under the great seal of England to Richard, Earl of Bellamont and others, of all the goods and other things, which should be taken by Kid from Thomas Too, John Ireland, and others in the said grant mentioned, as pirates, before their conviction, is illegal and void, it passed in the negative..."


Note: The history cited above by "H.O.M.O." was copied from John Lodge's 1789 book, The Peerage of Ireland... Vol. 3, pp. 210-212.

A letter from a gentleman in Southampton, Long Island, dated 28th ult., to the printers hereof, says,

"Inclosed is an inscription that was taken off a stone which was dug up in this town last week. The circumstances attending the affair is this: -- a young man belonging here dug up the stone, and under it he saith was a pot full of dollars. -- He divulged the secret to two more young men, who last Monday night took, as we conclude, one if not two pots of money. -- The stone and the inscription on it I have seen: it appears to be a ballast stone, and the engraving on it much blur'd. We think it was buried by Robert [sic] Kidd the pirate. The inscription I send you is as exact as can be taken. -- If any further discovery is made respecting the money, &c., I will give you information. -- The stone and inscription is a curiosity. -- It was dug up within a quarter mile of our south shore, on a flat piece of ground. -- The pot was about three feet under ground. The person who engraved the inscription on the stone apepars to have been a very illiterate character, as you will see by the spelling, poetry, letters, &c.

this       [where] pot       under this       this pot [stood]       there lies       another twice as good.       R. K. 158

N. B. The original cannot be exactly imitated with common printing types.


Note 1: Compare the above report with this excerpt from William Grainge's 1859 The Vale of Mowbray, pp. 277-78: "Many years ago there resided in the village of Upsall a man who dreamed three nights successively that if he went to London Bridge he would hear of something greatly to his advantage. He went traveling the whole distance from Upsall to London... [where] he was accosted by a Quaker who... told him that he had had that night a very curious dream himself, which was, that if he went and dug under a certain bush in Upsall Castle in Yorkshire, he would find a pot of gold... [the Upsall man] returned immediately home dug beneath the bush, and there he found a pot filled with gold and on the cover an inscription... which was 'Look lower where this stood, Is another twice as good' --- The man of Upsall hearing this resumed his spade returned to the bush dug deeper and found another pot filled with gold far more valuable than the first..."

Note 2: An article published in the Springfield Daily Illinois State Register of May 23, 1920, under the heading "Dreaming and Digging," included this summary: "There is a legend of an Englishman who dreamed three nights in succession that if he dug under an alder tree on a field of York, he would find something. --- After digging for awhile the digger found a pot filled with copper coin. On the cover of the pot was written these words: 'Look lower; where this one stands is one twice as good.' Digging lower, he found a chest full of silver, and on the lid of the chest was written: 'Look lower, where this stood is another twice as good.' He kept on digging, and finally found a treasure of gold..."

New-York, April 25....        

MONEY  DIGGERS.

The old story of treasure buried in the vicinity of this city, by Kidd, the pirate, and also by different inhabitants who were driven from their homes in the commencement of the war, are, we understand, revived.

A gentleman who lives near the state prison has discovered that several persons have lately been digging for money during the night time, in different parts of his ground.

It appears that these stories have been put in circulation by a few individuals, and that they have deluded a much greater number of people than would be imagined. They sell shares in their contemplated discoveries, at five and ten dollars, or such sums as they can procure, according to the credulity of their dupes, and then prescribe a number of superstitious and complicated ceremonials, with which the search must be made; so that they can always avail themselves of the breach of some one or another of these ceremonies, as the cause of failure in their attempts.

It is proper that people should be put on their guard against the designs of these men, who, whether knaves or fools, will lead them into expenses, in pursuit of visionary schemes.

Morn. Chron.        

Note: For an example of an early document alloting "shares in their contemplated discoveries," see the Articles of Agreement entered into by Joseph Smith and his money-digger associates, at Harmony, Pennsylvania in 1825.

FOR THE PATRIOT AND PATROL.

NO. 10.

A tradition prevails on the Atlantic coast that the celebrated pirate, Capt. Kidd, buried his treasures on the shore, and consigned them to the care of evil spirits. If discovered they can be obtained only by magical ceremonies.... The treasure is discovered always by dreaming thrice that it may be found in the same place.

I dreamt it twice, and I dreamt it thrice, And we went to the far sea shore; And spades we took and the holy book, And merrily went we four.... Adieu, adieu, ye flames so blue, For I see ye no more for aye, God grant I may dig for the money of Kidd, Ne again till my dying day. JONATHAN.                     (view entire 1817 article)

Notes: (forthcoming)

Money Diggers. -- In Pittston, about nine miles below Hallowell, on the eastern bank of Kennebec river, a party of about fourteen men are now engaged in digging for money. This extraordinary enterprise was commenced in 1817 and continued without much interruption for nearly a year, during which time a vast excavation was made, 75 feet deep. The enchanted treasure, however, we understand, completely eluded the search. It was afterwards partially abandoned, but in October last was recommenced with unabated vigor. The leader of this visionary gang is a substantial farmer, an inhabitant of a town not more than twelve miles distant from Hallowell, whose sons hold a reputable rank in society. The old man and his associates maintain an obstinate and mysterious silence upon the subject. As the scene of their labour is a resort for all the mischievous wags in the neighbourhood and of others who come to wonder at the infatuated perseverance of the money diggers, their taciturnity may partly be attributed to the unceasing ridicule which their visitants raise at their expense.

The tradition is, that vast quantities of money were deposited in various places in the earth, by the Buccaniers who infested our coast in the early settlement of the country. On these occasions one of the marauders, who had previously bound himself by an oath to guard the deposit, was killed and buried on the spot.

The work at present is going on with much rapidity, and another excavation about [50] feet deep, has been made but a short distance from the first.

"I conversed," says a gentleman who recently visited the spot, "with the old man who superintended the work, and found him tolerably intelligent upon other subjects. He uniformly evaded my questions which were put to him respecting the motives and expected results of this extraordinary enterprise. His son, however, a lad of 13, who shrewdly suspects they will have their labour for their pains, is more communicative. Having bribed him with a few coppers, he informed us that his father was first induced to undertake the business by a remarkable dream, which was repeated three nights in succession. After consulting an old woman in the neighbourhood, celebrated for her skill in the mystic art, an idiot, generally known by the appellation of "Greely's Fool," who, by the way, although he knows nothing of the material world, is reputed wise in all that relates to the invisible, he was confirmed in the belief of the existence of a subterranean treasure in this spot. Our young informant stated that many of the original partners in the concern had sold out their shares at an advance upon the first cost, and that others who are now concerned, have spent nearly all that they possessed."

Note: This article was widely reprinted in 1822. Editorial remarks attached to an excerpt published in the Vermont Woodstock Gazette of April 2, 1822 included "Captain Kidd and his band" among "the Buccaniers who formerly infested our coast," leaving deposits of buried treasure. The Woodstock article goes on to say: "The passion for digging money has shown itself in many parts of the country. It is but a few years since it was common in this vicinity. The ground in and near this village was frequently found excavated by these wiseacres, who came around with their witch-hazel rods, as if they were to 'call up spirits from the vasty deep.' None, however, were ever able to find the hidden treasure, and we have never heard of any money-digger who was successdul, save old 'John Gray of Middlholm,' whose story in Hogg's Winter Evening Tales may be recommended to all who wish to find treasure in the earth." The Woodstock editor may have been referring to the nearby money-digging efforts of the Nathaniel Wood cult's "rodsmen" around Middleton, Vermont -- but a slightly more plausible location for buried Captain Kidd treasure would have been several miles to the east, along the shores of the Connecticut River.

COMMUNICATED  TO  THE EVENING POST.

Kidd's money and the devil in the shape of black cat. -- A good deal of amusement was excited by the result of an application which was made to the police office last Saturday afternoon, for a posse of officers to go down to a house in Goldstreet, and explore the cause and object of certain mysterious proceedings which had been sometime going on in the cellar of the same. -- Men were heard digging there in the day time, with the door and windows closed, and lights burning within. The wicked souls would not tell their neighbors what they were doing, and their neighbors, like "poor aunt Charity Cockloft, who died of a Frenchman," were consuming with anxiety "to get at the bottom of it." -- Two resolute and intrepid police marshals were dispatched and soon explored their way down into the sepulchral region of doubt and mystery. Here was first seen a huge mass of new dug earth [losening] up almost to fill the cellar, and a deep broad oblong pit from which it had been evacuated. A closer inspection shewed a bible laid upon upon the margin of the pit with a naked sword laid across it -- In another quarter long shining rods of iron were displayed with bamboo cases for their safe preservation; and one might almost have imagined that he had found his way into the cell of an alchymist of the fourteenth century. The posse however pretty soon discovered a negro fellow glaring through a crevice in the door, and having made bon prize of him were directly in possession of the secret of the whole. He had been set to dig there by a white man whose name he did not disclose, and the object was buried money. The bible and sword were to keep the devil off -- the long shining iron rods were to explore ahead with; but what the use could be of the rods of different lengths, any more than the general singularity of the proceeding he did not explain.

The devil had hitherto kindly let them alone it appeared till within about two days past when the poor fellow saw him spring up out of the bottom of the pit, in length, size and colour like a large black cat, and their digging had in consequence been suspended since; but they were just agoing to renew it again with fresh resolution, but the charm had now been broken by one of the police officers getting down into the pit, and any further labor would be all in vain -- The negro was examined by a magistrate and severely threatened that if he dug another shovel full the devil should carry him off through an underground passage; all which he faithfully swallowed with eyes bursting from their sockets with wonder and terror, and his recent experience of the frightful black creature coming up out of the bottom of the pit, had well prepared him to believe it. The pit has also been filled up.

This infatuation of digging for Kidd's money has continued now for near a century and sticks as deeply into the mind as ever.

One tradition respecting it, may, perhaps, amuse. Whenever Kidd and his bloody band buried a quantity of money, their usage was to cut off the head of one of the band, and lay it on the boxes of treasure, by which a compact was formed with the devil to guard the deposit forever; and if thereafter any meddling mortal should dare to disturb it, that bloody head would send up spouts of blood from its arteries, and all the power of the infernal would be roused to protect it.

Notes: (forthcoming)

John Gardiner Calkins Brainard's Fort Braddock Letters, 1822


CONNETICUT MIRROR.

Vol. XIII.                             Hartford, Conn., Monday, June 3, 1822.                             No. 50.




FT.  BRADDOCK, _____
(Continued)

"My name was Robert Kidd,
And God's laws I did forbid,
And thus wickedly I did -- as I sail'd." The appearance of the sky indicated one of those autumnal storms which render navigation dangerous on the coast of New England, when a ship of a size and appearance more large and imposing than was usually seen in those waters, was crossing Long Island Sound, and making for Gardiner's Bay, She came round the point, and anchored under the land, as near the shore as was safe, in a place so sheltered by the woods, and the projection of land towards the sand bar, as not to be readily seen from the sound. Two boats put off from the vessel, one of which steered towards the southern part of the bay, and the other directly for the shore. This last was filled with men, who repaired to a rude cabin, which stood in the edge of the wood, not far from the water. Here they made preparations for spending the night, by kindling a fire, and bringing into the hut refreshments, and several other articles from the boat.

The night, which had now set in, soon became pitchy dark, and the storm, which had been foreseen, began with violence. The hut was dry, and derived an air of comfort from the tempest without, and the fire which blazed within. A light was kept burning at a small window, to direct the return of the other boat thro' the darkness, and a guard placed at the door; while the rest of the men reposed themselves round the sides of the room, except one -- who appeared to exercise unlimited authority. He sometimes seated himself -- sometimes stood alone by the fire, and sometimes walked back and forth in the room. He was a muscular and strong built man, of a morose look, and foreign air. His dress was rich with lace, and somewhat resembled a British naval uniform. He had a pair of large silver mounted pistols, and a heavy Eastern sabre at his side. He listened now and then till he could distinguish the dash of oars in the pauses of the storm.

"Douse the glim there, Darby Mullens. Off with these cutter's men to the ship, and back by day-light. Tell Watson to keep his eye on the prisoner, for we are close on shore; look out, for if anybody deserts, you shall walk the plank."

At this moment the door opened, and a man entered armed like the other, except that instead of pistols, he wore a carbine or arquebuss, with a spring bayonet. The water was pouring from the spout of his three cornered hat, and his black beard grew so high on his face, and so near the fell of uncombed hair above, that his eyes looked like those of a Newfoundland dog -- though far less prepossessing. He was followed by six or seven of a very motley and weather-beaten appearance.

"Bolton," continued the first speaker, "what does he say? Can I have provision enough for another cruise?"

"Wait till I get the water out of my eyes, and I'll tell you."

So saying, he poured a liberal allowance of brandy into a tumbler, and drank it undiluted. The commander seconded the motion, as he called it, and then handed it to the sailors, who drank extempore from the neck of the bottle. Their conversation, though it throws some light on after circumstances, was not such as should be published in the Fort Braddock MS. We learn from it, however, that Lord Bellamont was about entering on the duties of Governour, both of Massachusetts and New-York that Gardiner's Bay was the commander's only place of safety -- that he had a commission from the Board of Admiralty, and sailing orders from Lord Bellamont himself.

"Strain every nerve to get to sea again," said Kidd, "and immediately, with provisions for a long voyage. Kill Gardiner's cattle and pay him -- one day, rain or shine, is all I ask -- the Earl of Bellamont is himself suspected of assisting us, and his enemies have urged the colonies to prove their suspected loyalty by bringing my head. There is a provincial sloop of war under Dudley, that may suspect our haunt, and seek in this very storm, this infernal tempting harbor."

"Why then," said Bolton, "did you come here."

"Did you never know why I often come here? This island belongs to no state or province, and is embraced in no patent, but is holden directly from King William, like the Isle of Wight; and it belongs to the family of the Gardiners, in which it is entailed, with no law or responsibility except to the King, who doesn't know whether it is in the East Indies or the West. There is on it but a single family and its laborers, and we have them always under our control. They can send for no militia, and claim no assistance; the dead peace of the spot is disturbed only by us. Here are woods, water, and provisions, at our own price, and more security in these regions, than is to be found elsewhere."

"Then why not stay," said Bolton, "the very expense of pursuit will sicken the plantation; and they have Indians enough on shore to look out for, without chasing pirates at sea."

"Do you not notice," said the captain, "among the prisoners we took in the Quedah, a Frenchman, that seemed a passenger from the East Indies? I seldom see a man but I remember him again. 'Tis more than twenty years ago that I knew that man in New-York, as they call it now. He was an officer in the French service, when I traded from that port with the Bucaneers. He had a wife with him, I think; any how, he was much respected; his connections are everywhere, and if he should escape, then Robert Kidd sails no more. Depend on't there's danger. Fifty of my men deserted at St. Mary's, when we burnt the Adventurer, and went on board the Mocha Pirate. Do you see, Bolton?"

Bolton looked him full in the face, and laying his hand on the hilt of his Turkish scimetar, said, a Moore lies quiet on Black Point, and though his money is within the reach of his arm, he can't mutter where it is."

"I know," was the reply, "but this man can pay a ransom; he shall neither die here or escape."

"Then," said Bolton, "I agree we must put to sea. Hark! how high the wind blows! how the arms of these, old oak trees swing and creak -- blow high or low, we'll be ready tomorrow night. It is now W. N. W. -- it will clear off in the S. W. in a day or two -- let's see, the moon changes tomorrow. -- What's become of that bottle? The eastern nations understand weather better than we do; no wonder, with their monsoons and tornadoes. Thunder and lightning! here an't half a drink! -- Molucca," said he to a short brown colored fellow, "Arrack!" The boy looked for another bottle. "And put some straw near the fire -- there, that will not do -- not so close, if I burn up I'll torment you forever."

So saying, he took his laudanum, as he called it, -- unbelted his sword which he drew, and placed it at his head, and then threw himself on the straw.

"Thank Heaven, I am tired," said he, looking at Captain Kidd, more in earnest than in jest, "how much hard labor it takes to supply the little place of a quiet conscience. I shall sleep, though, whatever I may dream."

There is not in the whole compass of nature's music, a sound more soothing, than the rushing of a heavy rain upon a drowsy head. It seems to force upon the mind a strong conviction of comfort, and to excite feelings of gratitude for the shelter we enjoy, mixed with a slight and painful touch of pity, for the unknown, but the possible exposure of others. When this lullaby is joined by the chorus of waters lashed by the wind, and dashed at intervals on the shore, the sense of personal safety, and the contrasted images of peril by sea, serve only to heighten this pensive pleasure. But to enjoy the beauties or the music of nature, innocence is necessary. Eden faded from the eyes of our first parents, and though the spot be left, it will never be found again by their short sighted and sinful posterity. Capt. Kidd put his head out of the door, cursed the storm and said it would last a fortnight.

The next morning the storm continued, as was expected; the boats put off from the ship to the shore, and the Captain set out in his barge for the south part of the island, where the mansion house has always stood. He landed, notwithstanding the rain, in a sort of naval style, left a trusty man with the boat, and sent another to announce his approach. The rest followed him at a respectful distance, fully armed, and with military precision. They paraded before the door till they had leave to retire to the kitchen, and Kidd himself entered the house.

This was by no means his first visit. Mr. Gardiner, commonly called Lord Gardiner, from his being an immediate tenant of the crown, and having a separate charter or patent, which granted him certain royal privileges on his own territory, received him very civilly, though with some embarrassment. He knew that he sailed at first with a commission from the British Admiralty, and more than suspected the use he had made of it. Kidd knew all this, but acted as if he wore King William's commission, and would resent any suspicion to the contrary. He mentioned the urgency of the service on which he was sent, and spoke of recent orders from the Admiralty. He brought some presents for Mrs. Gardiner and children, and politely requested her to retire, that he might have a moment's conversation with her husband.

In this private interview he made a memorandum of the provision he wanted, which he carried out at his own prices; and after footing it up, paid the money down, and added that it must be delivered by sunrise the next morning at the Fisher's hut, for he dared not trust his men on the island, for fear of desertion. He regretted that the weather was such that he could not entertain his friends on board, dropped a word or two about his men and guns, and politely took his leave. No military contribution was ever levied with more particularity. The Quedah was watered and supplied with provisions for a cruise; the plan of which Kidd had contrived, but the success of which he could not foresee.

---

The weather on the third day was fair, and the wind favorable. The ship was under weigh, and the spars were whitened with canvass at a single order. The proprietor of the island saw her with pleasure, when she doubled the point to get out of the bay, and put before the wind in the direction of Montaug.

The infant trade of our colonies, and indeed, all the navigation, on the coast had been endangered by other pirates besides this noted freebooter. Barbarous cruelties, and some shocking and unprovoked murders upon the neighboring seas, had been committed, and the colonies, particularly Massachusetts, had fitted out a few vessels to protect their trade, and if possible, capture the pirates. Dudley who was considered an officer of much promise, had been lately promoted to the command of the Martyr sloop of War, and sent on this service. He had obtained an accurate description of the Quedah, and overhauled every sail he saw, in hopes of falling in with this noted pirate. Kidd was still in sight of land, when he made out the Martyr, and bore down for her, in expectation of finding a merchant vessel. He was soon undeceived by her size and appearance, and most of all, by her standing directly for him, though the wind was in the wrong quarter. He called to Bolton. -- "What say -- shall we fight for the fun of it, when there's nothing to get? There's nothing but Spartan coin by the looks -- there's no glory to be got. That fellow now," pointing to the vessel, "would he afraid to run. -- D__n it, Bolton, I dare do anything, fight or run; -- what say?"

"Just as your stomach is," said Bolton, shipping a large quid of pigtail aboard his month, "but in three hours sailing you'll be overhauled."

"Quarters then -- beat to quarters; but pack all sail, put her before the wind. Helm a-port -- steady -- there, hold her at that." A few gratuitous curses, by way of emphasis, garnished the order.

Discipline was Kidd's creed, and he supposed it was brought about only in one method. The cat-o-nine tails had been freely used that very morning; the yard arm was handy, and the plank lay in the gangway, ready at word to be run out from the vessel's side. At every springing of thisdreadful trap, a living corpse was heard to plunge, and cries for help to come with the wind, till the speed of the ship left them far behind.

Kidd now put his crew to every various and rapid service, which is suddenly required in preparing for flight and battle at the same time. Different orders were given in the same breath, which were sometimes misunderstood, and sometimes, to his critical eye, too slightly and negligently executed. His orders had at first some few words of intelligible English, mixed here and there among his oaths; but he soon confined himself to his vocabulary of profanity, which he fairly exhausted more than once, in French, Dutch, and English. He soon saw that a battle was inevitable: for the Quedah, from a long voyage, was not in so good sailing order as the vessel in pursuit, which was fast coming up.

"I did not care enough whether I fought or run, to make up my mind about it," said he to Bolton, as he suddenly assumed an air of perfect composure, "but I think we shall be saved the trouble of a council of war on that point. We must take in sail, and clear for action, after the men have had their fighting rations. -- Let the Quarter Master bring some this way, that I may have a word over a social glass with you, Mr. Bolton. I like this chance of a battle, if it was only as an apology for drinking; though you may say I'm not difficult about excuses. But Bolton, to be serious, we must be prepared, you know, for the worst; and be the chance of our being taken what it may, there shall be none of our being betrayed."

A conversation succeeded in a tone low, but earnest, in which nothing could be distinguished, except at intervals, such words -- the prisoner -- the plank he knows all, and it can't be helped -- dead men tell no tales, &c.

The result was not known. Without ceremony, or even a public declaration of the design, a few men were despatched for the unhappy object of Kidd's suspicions, who brought the victim upon the deck, struggling and reluctant, with his eyes bound, though his hands were free. He was led along the plank, which projected over the side at the gangway, and which was cut from its slight lashing, so that he dropped in the water, and was left in the wake of the vessel.

There was carelessly seated on the deck of the Martyr, a young, and what ladies would call a handsome looking man, with a spy-glass in his hand, which he happened at that moment to apply to his eye. I cannot stop as the manner of some is, to tell how he looked, how his hat had fallen from his head, and left it with no other covering than thick dark curls of chestnut hair, which the wind stirred from his high, fair forehead, nor of the form that graced the rude ground work of the quarter deck. I must be, if possible, as rapid in my narration, as he was in action, when his accidental glance, assisted by the spy glass, rested on that sight of horror, which I have just described. The fair readers of this time-worn manuscript, must pardon me, if I leave them to conjecture how he looked when he sprang on his feet, and with a freedom of language, which in those pure days, even the profession of a seaman did not allow, exclaimed, "Good God! they've murdered a man -- away there to his help!"

The hoarse voice of the boatswain was heard above the busy hum of the ship's crew, "away there -- you first cutters, away!" and the hint was taken by a boat's crew, who, headed by an officer, were over the vessel's side and seated at their oars, with the activity of a flock of mother Cary's chickens.

The speed of manual exertion is no where shown to more advantage than on board a vessel of war.

"Pull, pull," said the officer, as he stood in the stern with the tiller in his hand. A shot from the Quedah went so near his head, that he could tell from the scream that there was a flaw in the bullet. "Ah, we shall engage in a minute, -- pull, pull away."

The men sprung to their oars for the floating victim. The long ridges of the ocean wave were dashing over him, and in his drowning ears, "deep answered unto deep." He had pulled the bandage from his eyes, and it now hung loose about his neck, so that he saw the effort for his relief, and was struggling with the exertion of a spent swimmer, to whom hope had given preternatural power, when the barge was sweeping by him, and the man in the bow caught the handkerchief round his neck, with a boat-hook. The oars stopped, the boat with the body alongside, drove through the water with the headway already acquired. The man was exhausted, and lifeless, to all appearance, when they took him on board, and put about for the ship. By this time the vessels were so near, that some shots had already been exchanged, and an engagement was certain.

It is said that the silent moment, before the "grim ridges of war" join in the conflict, is dreadful; and the occasion has been taken by the great captains of antiquity, to address their armies in speeches

      "On the rough edge of battle ere it join'd;"

and this practise, as to the length of the speeches, has been improved upon in modern times, as indeed all sorts of speech-making has been.

Upon this occasion, the prefatory words were few and unpremeditated.

"Bolton," said Kidd, "we must fight, but he'll be sorry, for d__n him, if he had been worth taking, I'd have done it an hour ago. Haul up the courses, and bring her to. My boys, we must sink her directly. -- We can't be taken, that's out of the question. Those of you who'd rather die here like heroes, than be hung for pirates at Execution Dock, let's know by three cheers." The three cheers were given, and the ship was ready for action.

The Martyr, not certain of bringing her adversary to action, was holding on under full sail. The commander had directed a shot or two, to ascertain the distance, till he saw the move of the Quedah for action, when he gave orders to call all hands. At the shrill whistle of the boatswain, the deck was filled with men, who came, some from, aloft, and some from below. The officer stepped forward, and inclined his head, -- every hat was off, and every eye on him.

"My lads," said he, "I shall keep you but a moment from your duty. See that in human wretch, -- 'tis Robert Kidd, the devil has deserted him at last, and Providence has delivered him into our hands -- the victory is ours, now to your quarters, and wait the word."

"Where shall I lay her," said the sailing-master.

"O, Mr. Conklin," said Dudley, "I forgot that; lay her along side, at pistol shot. Mr. Endicott, be ready to lead away the boarders."

The sides of the Quedah had smoked and blazed with repeated discharges of her guns, which did some damage before Dudley neared his distance, and gave the word to fire. Both ships were instantly involved in smoke. The distance was so small, that musketry was used from the tops, and the decks of both vessels. Few battles have been more desperately fought. Dudley was resolved to capture, and Kidd, not to be taken. The Martyr was constantly nearing the Quedab, till the fluke of her anchor caught in one of the Quedah's port holes, and Dudley sprang forward, calling on the boarders and heading them himself. To gain the Quedah's deck, would have been no easy matter; but it happened that Kidd had been stunned by a splinter, and Bolton was killed outright.

The boarders cleared the decks of the pirate. They were found slippery with blood, and strewed with the dead and the dying. The men ceased to fight when Kidd fell, for they apprehended little danger from capture, as many of them had been compelled into the pirate's service, and wished an opportunity to leave it. This was understood, and they experienced as kind treatment as they hoped for. The Martyr was dreadfully injured, and lost many of her men; but the Quedah was sinking.

The prisoners, with everything valuable which could be removed, were immediately conveyed to the other ship, which lay along side. Dudley gave orders to fall off, leaving a boat's crew to set fire to the prize and leave her. Kidd, who had been brought too, was conveyed with the survivors of the crew on board the Martyr; strict attention was paid to the wounded of both parties; the sloop of war repaired as well as possible, for immediate sailing; and the sad service of burying the dead, at which the captain is always present. Dudley deferred to the next day, in hope that he might possible arrive in port before that mournful office would be necessary.

CONNETICUT MIRROR.

Vol. XIII.                             Hartford, Conn., Monday, June 10, 1822.                             No. 51.




FT.  BRADDOCK, _____
(Continued)

"By skeleton shapes her sails are furl'd,
And the hand that steers is not of this world." We resume that part of the tale which relates to Dudley and Kidd.

The last boat had now left the Quedah, in haste, after setting her on fire, and leaving none on board but the dead. They had scarcely joined the Martyr, when a fresh breeze sprung up from the southward, and drove the Quedah before the wind, wrapped in deep red flames, in the same direction with the victor ship, and apparently in pursuit. A current of air was raised by the heat, which made her gain in this singular chase. Her sails and rigging which had not been shot away, were all set and standing, and the quick flames fed by tar and pitch, ran along her cordage and leaped to the very top gallant head, while the ship was yet above water, and under full way, as though the dead men on board of her had awakened with new life, and sprung to their duty.

This appearance, as she held onward wrapped in smoke and blaze, added to her character as a pirate, was a spectacle to the crowded deck of the Martyr, where some viewed it as sublime, and some as portentous and supernatural.

The spectacle was long after recorded among the marvels, and gave rise to the tale of the Ghost ship, or flying Dutchman, which was manned by spectres, and with all her canvass spread, sailed rapidly in a gale against the wind. It was necessary for the Martyr to bear away for fear of being run down by this dreadful fire-ship.

The prisoner of Kidd, who had been so providentially saved from drowning, excited very strongly the sympathy of Captain Dudley.

"Were it not for the war with France," said he, addressing the stranger, "you should, on our arrival at Boston, be set immediately at liberty; but under existing circumstances, though the rescued prisoner of a pirate, you are still in my hands a prisoner of war, and your parole of honor is the only indulgence I can give you."

Du Bourg, for that was his name, thanked his deliverer with a deep feeling of gratitude, and expressed a desire to continue under his protection.

"I fear," said Dudley, "we shall find it impossible. My services on the water, after the capture of Kidd, will be no longer required. My character in this new settlement," said he with a smile, "is rather amphibious; and I shall soon after my arrival, be despatched on a long and fatiguing land service, to the borders of Lake Champlain. where the French and Indians, on the frontier, threaten to disturb and destroy the New England settlements."

"If that be your destination," said the stranger, "I will gladly follow you; strange as it may seem, my business is to visit that very spot. There, in younger life, on the western shore of that lake, was I stationed as an officer in Le Gendre's regiment, before I was ordered on other service. There I lost my wife, and left my only daughter. She was then an infant; and now if living, a woman. I know where, and with whom I left her. I have regularly heard from her, and I can find the very spot of her abode, after an absence of twenty years. I am," added he, "a man of property, and if I find my daughter, shall become a citizen of that country where I spent my happiest days."

Dudley made the proposal that Du Bourg should be his company across the country, and march with the troops which were to be in readiness at Tautinsque, near the northern line of the colony, to which place Dudley would repair with him, after representing his case to the Governor of the Massachusetts colony, discharging his crew, and settling his concerns as commander of the Martyr.

On their arrival at Boston, the news of the capture of the pirate was soon spread; witnesses were summoned, Dudley among the rest and even the peaceful inhabitants of Gardiner's Island to attend the public examination of Kidd, who was on this preliminary proof, sent home to England for trial, where, after an examination by the House of Commons, he terminated his voyages, as recorded in the New Gate calendar, and in the ballad, of which he was the hero --

       "At Execution Dock, as he sailed."

Meanwhile the provincial troops, in this instance, principally from Massachusetts, though aided by Connecticut and Rhode Island, had taken up their line of march, and with their military "furnishments," accomplished a journey of difficulty, through a country unsettled, and but little known, and encamped in safety on the eastern shore of Champlain. They were strongly posted to defend the country against an unexpected inroad from the French and hostile Indians....

Note: Brainard's ship battle encounter between Captain Dudley and Captain William Kidd was, of course, entirely fictional. Kidd's ship was sunk off the coast of the Dominican Republic, far from New York's coastal waters.

NEW-ENGLAND GALAXY.

Vol. ?                             Boston, Massachusetts, Friday, June 7, 1822.                             No. ?




CAPT.  ROBERT  KIDD.

It is high time that this illustrious Sea Rover should be taken from the vile company, of the plundering, cold and cruel assassins (where for more than a century he has stood, in the vulgar opinion, with Black Beard and Coff and all others, a scape goat for all that was atrocious and bloody) and placed within the royal circle of associates, where his glories first vegetated.

To those who are in any degree read in English history, it is well known that during the war, which raged between them and the Franch prior to the year 1697, and which was terminated by the treaty of Ryswick, the West India commerce was greatly annoyed by Pirates, men influenced by all the diabolical passions, which chatacterize the present race at Cuba and elsewhere, but much more powerful, more daring, and every way more adventurous. They visited our coast from the Bay of Mexico to the St. Lawrence -- made descents wherever they pleased, and plundered and captured at their will -- but as all our settlements within the reach of their depredations were miserably poor, these rovers generally chose to visit them as friends, and were uniformly treated as such with little or no enquiry, and by this well judged management, they were enabled to refit in our ports without molestation, and to obtain supplies for their more important expeditions on the Spanish main.

I have a geography now open before me, printed in 1709, just after the period of Kidd's enterprizes, in which Charleston in South Carolina is described as having 13 or 14 good houses, and as many miserable huts packed into streets as sheltered 250 families. In Virginia, Jamestown had 70 scattered buildings, Williamsburgh 30. In Maryland, Annapolis had 40 houses, and Baltimore "a parcel of scattered houses not fit to be called a town." In Pennsylvania, Bristol, the capital of the state, had 50 houses, Philadelphia, "dignified with the title of a city, 1200, built of brick, 2 or 3 stories high, with many warehouses and wharves." -- In Jersey, Elizabethtown contained 250 families, "Newark a little town of 100 families" -- Perth Amboy 48 families, "called a city, by which it appears what small places they dignify with such names." New-York city is also said to contain about 800 houses, and four churches, of which Trinity was one, described as "a great church, lately built," (it was built in 1698.) The county of Duchess had 20 families, and if we are allowed to erect a census from the assessment rolls, and take the city as a data, the whole state had a population less than 20,000. In Connecticut "there is no town of any note, all the country beyond ten miles back from the sea, is barren hills and morasses, and uninhabited; here are bears, wolves, deer, otter, muskrat, &c. and a strange creature called a Moos, 12 feet high, and the tip of his horns 12 feet asunder." In Massachusetts, "Reading is a good town, having one mill to grind corn, and another to saw timber." Boston is the only place in all the British dominions in America, which can be called a city, as well by reason of its opulency as for the several handsome buildings in it, noth public and private, as the court house, market house, and Sir William Phipps' house, several spacious streets, and is said to contain from 1000 to 1200 inhabitants -- 300 or 400 ships load here in a year;" so that we may rationally conclude that the Pirates finding no temptation to plunder, adopted the expedient of a peaceful intercourse, for purposes as I have observed, much more important. Those pirates under a pretended commission as privateers, cruising for the public enemy (like the Artegans now fitting from our Southern ports,) were not examined very strictly by our authority, as they behaved themselves very quietly, and paid cash and round prices for their supplies, and in many instances they were allowed (in New York particularly) to sell the fruits of their thieveries openly in the town, under protection obtained from the Governor, and Mr. Nicholl one of the Council became himself an agent for the Pirates, of whom he received and justified the receipt of $800 for his services.

Col. Fletcher at this time, that is from 1692 to 1696, was the Provincial Governor, a man whose ideas of government were learned under a drill rattan, rapid, headlong, ignorant, self-sufficient, and withal of the most unchaste and adventurous avarice -- a man whom it is said that for the posy on the hymeneal ring of cedamus amori, he substituted the better wearer of, Rem, si possis recte, si non quocunque rem.

Talents like these, united to a boldness of transgressions which seemed to challenge scrutiny, and was equalled only by the frontless villainy of the Pirates themselves, it may well be supposed were as little calculated to conciliate friends as to insure impunity. Complaints of his maladministration, denouncing him at the same time as the protector and partner of the sea-robbers, very soon reached the throne; but a remissness in the ministry, which seemed rather to countenance than censure the conduct of the Governor, secured the latter four years in his office, when the clamour being too great to be resisted, he was superseded by the Earl of Bellmont. It was between this latter appointment and the spring of 1696, that the Earl became acquainted with Mr. Robert Livingston, the rich and common ancestor of the present family in New-York, who happened to be in London at that time. The Earl, probably anxious to know all things relating to the object of his new appointment, and finding Mr. Livingston very competent to inform him in this respect, had frequent and long consultations with him, in one of which he took occasion to introduce the dishonourable conduct of his predecessor relating to the pirates. In this conference expedients for checking their depredations were conversed upon. Mr. Livingston then informed the Governor, that he was personally acquainted with a Capt. Robert Kidd, a gentleman of much personal bravery and great nautical knowledge, and was moreover acquainted with the haunts and rendezvous of the pirates, and every way qualified to command an enterprise of such importance. Kidd was afterwards consulted upon the aubject, and was introduced to the Earl by Mr. Livingston, when it was agreed, that if a frigate of 30 guns and 150 men could be obtained from the King, that he (Kidd) would undertake the enterprise and sail immediately. This was suggested to his Majesty, who consulted the admiralty on the subject, but as the war with France was then in its full rage and fury, they reported against the application, and it dropped for that time. Soon after Mr. Livingston proposed to the Earl to make a private adventure of it, in which he (Mr. L.) offered to be concerned with Kid one fifth in vessel and outfits, and moreover become surety for Kidd's faithful execution of the trust. On a communication of this new arrangement to the King, he very readily gave his sanction to it, and aided its popularity by taking himself one tenth of the joint fund which was now agreed to extend as far as the fross sum of $26,640, to which, with others, Lord Somers, the Earl of Romney, Sir Edmund Harrison, the Duke of Shrewsbury and the Earl of Oxford, Bellmont, Livingston and Kidd were subscribers, the whole being under the direction of Bellmont. Kidd saided from Plymouth for New York, in April of 1696. How long he cruised on the American coast in execution of his comission is not known. Mr. Livingston was however the only one of the concern in America, until the arrival of the Earl 2 years afterwards, that is, in April, 1697. Kidd, in the meanwhile, went to the Indian ocean, and establishing himself somewhere on the island of Madagascar, lay like a shark in those remote seas, pillaging and plundering with impunity the commerce of all nations at his pleasure. It was here, that, having captured a ship better suited to his purposes, he is said to have burned the one belonging to the Company, and in the course of some few months to have united other captures to his main enterprise, and thus rendered himself formidable to the greater force that ordinarily traversed those seas. His depredations extended not only through the Eastern ocean, but he traversed the whole coast of South America to the Equator, and through the Islands to the Bahamas; and if in those mighty sweeps he should have found it convenient to have come north for the purpose of depositing his treasures on the Long Island coast, or its vicinity, it is probable that such marks of locality were taken and communicated to the concern, as to enable them to put their hands upon it at pleasure, and therefore that it would not remain as the spoil of dreamers, at the distance of a century. It is generally understood that Kidd plundered none of his own nation; the Spanish commerce was the principal object, which was never unpopular with the English, from Sir Walter Raleigh's time to the present moment; but 120 years ago the moral sense from habit had become as bronzed in all that related to depredations on the Spanish commerce, as that of any priveteersman of the South a few years past under a commission of Artegus. The known and avowed practices of Gov. Fletcher, and of Nichols, and the very circumstance of Mr. Livingston's giving bonds that Kidd should not turn pirate, but above all that the king himself, a man of the most inveterate hostility to the Spaniards, should take so paltry a concern as 2600 dollars, merely to give the thing a bastard character of nationality to screen his favorites, is enough to raise a presumption that Kidd did not sail without a cabinet compass. The amount which this immoral plunderer amassed is not known, but with the public, from that time to the present, it is and has been counted as immense; but that the posterity of the original concern are yet affluent is more certain. It is not generally known, that Kidd having accomplished his first project, by some means or other got quit of his comrades and concern altogether, and was taken while walking the streets of Boston dressed like a gentleman, in all the haughty tranquility of Cleveland at Kirkwall, by Gov. Bellmont himself, who probably was the only man in town who knew him; this was about three years and a half from the time he (Kidd) sailed from Plymouth.

The Earl wrote to the secretary of state to send for Kidd, with a view to his trial in England, and a vessel was accordingly dispatched upon that errand, but having met with some accident, she put back, and her voyage was not renewed; this circumstance tended much to inflame and fortify the parlimentary opposition, and a motion was actually made in the house of Commons for the expulsion from office of all the lords that composed the original concern, and who were now boldly and publicly accused of being concerned with Kidd; this motion, however, did not prevail. Impeachments were afterwards substituted, which were managed by the first talent and eloquence of the opposition, who were at the hazard of a retaliation, not over cheering to those who had little fondness for the Tower and Tyburn, charged the delinquents, the Lord Chancellor being one, of a piratical conspiracy from the beginning, and of sharing the stupendous treasures of this fortunate rover, acquired upon the ocean, during three years of the most lucky and desperate robberies. What proofs then existed, to justify this bold and desperate attack upon the whigs, is not known; they must however have been numerous, and at least plausibly to have warranted a measure so rash and hazardous. Gov. Bellmont & Mr. Livingston in the meanwhile, intrenched beyond the range of this political hurricane, escaped without notice: they lay not within the range of the object, neither was it ever proved, that either of these gentlemen, or any of the English concern shared the treasures hidden or remitted by Kidd; it is better known that the latter went afterwards to England, but was never brought to trial, and the opposition still said it was for fear of disclosures more terrible to the ministry than the matter was to him; that he was soon set at liberty for want of proof, and he lived in London to a good old age, in very independent if not affluent circumstances.

This acquital, or voluntary escape, of Kidd, saved of course the bonds of Mr. Livingston, and he was never prosecuted on them, altho' he had at the time provincial enemies enough to have seized on this as a pretext for his ruin, had Kidd been condemned and hung, as is now generally believed, in which case the destiny of this affluent and respectable family, might have been beyond the reach of envy. In the MSS anals of this family, commenced by the father of Robert, and continued by him and his successors, perhaps to the present moment, this mysterious business of Kidd's (never yer cleared up) may undoubtedly be found, and it would be very amusing to the public, if some of Robert's posterity would publish it, if for no other reason, yet as a specific against this Auri sacra fames, which with its witcheries in an Ethiop's brain, seems to have roused the Devil from his slumbers in Gold to the great scandal of Wall-street.

SAMPSON SHELTON BRAUGHTON.            

Note 1: The exact date and full content of the above clipping have yet to be determined. It may have appeared in the June 14th issue. The purported writer was evidently supposed to be Sampson Broughton, jr., who served very briefly as the New York colonial Attorney-General in 1705-06 and who died long after Captain Kidd's 1701 death (but decades before the early 1820s, when the privateer Arraganta was sailing the Caribbean -- as briefly mentioned in the article). Broughton's only known connection with Captain Kidd occurred in 1701, when his father (also briefly Attorney-General) attempted to occupy Kidd's home on Manhattan Island. However it is possible that either the father or the son gained access to local information concerning the parties who sponsored Kidd's sailing excursions (as outlined in the article).

Note 2: Although the writer appeared to know a good deal about Kidd's 1695 syndicate partners, both in New York and London, he made the strange blunder of referring to the pirate as "Robert." That name was mistakenly included in the King's 1696 royal commission and was carried ober into the title of a popular popular ballad, but most people no doubt knew that the pirate's actual name was William. The writer also made the strange claim, that Captain Kidd escaped the King's justice and "lived in London to a good old age." This was a unique assertion and was most certainly wrong. Such historical blunders (along with what appeared to be defamations of some prominent New York families) caused the editor of the New York Spectator to decline the opportunity to reprint this Kidd article, although he mentioned it in his paper's issue of Sept. 9, 1823.

Excerpts From Vol. 2 of James McHenry's 1823 Novel

The Spectre of the Forest



[ 41 ]



CHAPTER  IV.

[ 223 ]



CHAPTER  XVI.

ALBANY DAILY ADVERTISER.

Vol. IX.                             Albany, New York, August ?, 1823.                             No. ?



THE  OLDEN  TIME.

Captain Kidd (so memorable in history) was a pirate during the reign of king William, has also found his way into our colonial records. According to Smollett, the colonies of North America had grown rich by piracy during the war with Spain. Kidd had offered to suppress these freebooters, provided government would furnish him with a ship of thirty guns; and the Admiralty being either unwilling or unable to afford him the proposed aid, a private subscription was set on foot by the Lord Chancellor, the Duke of Shrewsbury, the Earls of Romney, Oxford, and Bellamont, Sir Edward Harrison, and Colonel Livingston of New York. The king had promised to contribute one half of the expense, reserving to himself one tenth of the profits; but he never advanced the money. Kidd, thus equipped, set sail from Plymouth, and soon after turned pirate himself. -- He divided the booty which he had taken in the East Indies with his crew, burned his own ship, and sailed, in a prize which he had captured, to the West Indies. There he purchased a sloop, in which he steered for North America. -- Arriving on the coast of New-York, he sent one Emmet, to make his peace with Bellamont, the governor of the province, who inveigled him into negociation, and caused him to be arrested. Eventually he was taken to England, and there tried for piracy and murder in 1701, and executed.

During his piratical career, he visited Coeymans [south Albany Co., on the Hudson R.] and Albany, and had a secret place of retirement on or near a hill about two miles south of Albany, (and which still bears his name, viz. Kiddenhooghten, or, as it is improperly called, Kittenhooghten.) That hill, according to tradition, he adopted as a place of rendezevous for those infernal spirits, to whose care he entrusted the enormous sums of money which he buried in the earth; and there it is said also that he made a cave, which is hidden from human observation, in which he buried 30 boxes of gold, and laid upon them 13 human bodies of those whom he had murdered, in order to serve as a talisman against the prying curiosity of such as were in search of hidden treasure.

Mrs. Goeway, the wife of Gerrit Goeway, a grave and elderly matron, affirms, that her mother, who lived at a very advanced age, has frequently stated to her while a mere girl, that Kidd remained at Coeymans during part of two seasons, secreted in a barn belonging to one of the name of Coeymans; and afterwards in a mill, called Livingston's mill. Whether these stories can be relied on for their accuracy, I will not undertake to say; but this much can be said with truth, it is appears from the records, that on the 24th of March, 1691, capt. Kidd complained to the governor and council of New-York, that one of his men had been pressed from the vessel by Capt. Hicks, and the governor and council ordered, "upon the consideration of the good service performed by the said Capt. Kidd, not only to their majesty's forces, but others, their majesty's good subjects," that the man be restored to him. On the 17th of Aug. 1691, he brought a prize into the port of New-York, and the governor and council resolved, that "paying the king's tenths, and the governor's fifteenths," no other duty to be paid for the prize.

Would not the piratical deeds performed by Kidd -- the treasure he has buried, and the incantations he has performed in those midnight orgies, which were celebrated by him and his kindred spirits, form as good a foundation for an historical novel as any contained in the Waverley novels, so much sought after and admired?

Notes: (forthcoming)

NEW-YORK SPECTATOR.

Vol. XXVI.                          New York City, Tuesday, September 9, 1823.                          No. ?

Capt. Kidd. -- The name and exploits of this piratical hero, are familiar to every one, as the legends concerning him, we believe, are always carefully related to the tender inmates of every nursery in the country. A writer in the Albany Daily Advertiser, who has been amusing himself and the public for some months past, by gleaning curious facts from the ancient records of the state, in the Secretary's office, informs us that the name of Kidd has found its way into our Colonial records. Alter relating various facts concerning him, taken from these records, the writer asks -- "Would not the piratical deeds performed by Kidd -- the treasure he has buried, and the incantation he has performed in those midnight orgies, which were celebrated by him and his kindred spirits, form as good a foundation for an historical novel as any contained in the Waverley novels, so much sought after and admired?" -- We should certainly answer the question affirmatively. And we regret to add, that we have just been informed that the subject has already been seized upon by one who aspires to the rank of a novelist, without the talents to maintain it, and whose work is now in the press in this city. We allude to the author of "The Wilderness," a work exceedingly rich in incident, though so tame and clumsy in execution, as to weary and disappoint the reader. Our friend Cooper could give us a charming book about this famous sea-robber.

We last year saw a long article, we believe, in one of the New-Haven papers, in relation to Kidd and his exploits, which was quite interesting, and we should have published it, had not the names of some families in this state been used as having been in some respects concerned with the sea-robber. The Albany article now before us corresponds in several particulars with the Connecticut statement. According to Smollett, the colonies of North America had grown rich by piracy during the war with Spain. Kidd had offered to suppress these freebooters, provided the government would furnish him with a ship of thirty guns and the admiralty being either unwilling or unable to afford him the proposed aid, a private, subscription was set on foot by the Lord Chancellor, the Duke of Shrewbury, the Earls of Romney, Oxford and Bellamont, Sir Edward Harrison, and Col. Livingston of New York. The king had promised to contribute one half of the expense, reserving to himself one tenth of the profits; but he never advanced the money. Kidd thus equipped, set sail from Plymouth, and soon after turned pirate himself, he divided the booty which he had taken in the East Indies with his crew, burned his own ship, and sailed in a prize he had captured, to the West Indies. There he purchased a sloop, in which he steered for North America. Arriving on the coast of New York, he sent one Emmet to make his peace with Bellamont, the governor of the province, who inveigled him into a negotiation, and caused him to be arrested. Eventually he was taken to England and there tried for piracy and murder in 1701, and executed. During his piratical career be visited Coeymans and Albany, and had a secret place of retirement on or near a hill about two miles south of Albany, (and which still bears his name, viz. Kiddenhooghten, or, as it is improperly called, Kittenhooghten.) That hill, according to tradition he adopted as a place of rendezvous for those infernal spirits to whose care he entrusted enormous sums of money which he buried in the earth; and then it is said also, that he made a cave, which is now hidden from human observation, in which he buried 30 boxes of gold, and laid upon them 13 human bodies of those whom he had murdered, in order to serve as a talisman against the prying curiosity of such as were in search of hidden treasure. lt is a fact well ascertained, that Kidd remained at Coeymans during part of two seasons, secreted in a barn belonging to a man of the name of Coeymans; and afterwards in a mill called Livingston's mill. Whether these stories can be relied upon for their accuracy, the writer cannot say; but it appears from the records that on the 24th of March, 1691, Capt. Kidd complained to the governor and council of New York, that one of his men had been pressed from the vessel by Capt. Hicks; and the governor and council ordered, "upon the consideration of the good service performed by the said Capt. Kidd, not only to their majesties' forces, but others, their majesties' good subjects," that the man be restored to him. On the 17th August, 1691, he brought a prize into the port of New York, and the governor and council resolved that "paying the king's tenths, and the governor's fifteenths," no other duty to be paid for the prize.

Notes: (forthcoming)

[ 14 ]

[ 15 ]

[ 16 ]

[ 17 ]

New-York  [       ]  American.

Vol. VI.                                           New York City, July, 1825.                                           No. ?

All the money-diggers, and believers in Captain Kidd's hidden treasures, in the upper part of the city, were set in motion on Friday evening, ny a report that a vast treasure in gold had been found by some laborers digging the foundation of a house in the vicinity of Chatham Square.

The facts upon which fame has already raised so many a superstructure, we believe to be simply these: In digging for the foundation of a new building on the site of the old brewery, in Chatham square, near the Tradesmen's Bank, the workmen suddenly came upon a brick vault, about three feet long, and two feet wide, and one foot deep, securely and handsomely made. This vault was fourteen feet below the surface, and all around it the earth was solid. Those who discovered it say that nothing was contained in it; others, upon what foundation we know not, say it contained a box, which was secretly carried away by the finders. A hundred rumours are afloat, which it would be idle to repeat, or attempt to trace. The facts are as above stated -- for what purpose, at what time, and by whom, such a receptacle, in such a place, was constructed, we shall not attempt to conjecture.

New-York Times.

Vol. ?                                        New York City, December 2 ?, 1826.                                         No. ?

Money Hunting. -- Nearly every scheme for recovering buried or sunken treasures, from the inhumed coffers of Captain Kidd, to the submerged fortunes of the frigate Hussar at Hell Gate, appear to be attended with some unlucky contingency, which snatched the almost-possessed hoards from mortal hands. The genii of Kidd, and the demon of the Gate, have been exercised and combatted, but all to no purpose, they prove invincible sentiments of their ghostly employers.

A passage in Smollett's History of England originated one enterprise, which is just abandoned, and leaves the Vigo Bay Company at least contributors to the Neptonian mines, which they have in vain explored. The information stated, that when a Spanish fleet was destroyed in this bay, on the coast of Spain, by the combined English and Dutch fleets, six galleons were sunk, with fourteen million pieces of eight. Other authorities were found who confirmed the statement, and a company was instantly formed in England, who obtained a contract from the Spanish Ambassador, stipulating to give one-half of the recovered treasure to the government of Spain. They concluded their labours in August last, after having, at great expense, searched twelve sunken wrecks, and finding nothing in them save mud, to reward their toils. After all, there are few who can reverse the decree, that man's bread is to be obtained by the sweat of his brow, and whatever be the temporary success of grand speculations, or of financial chicanery -- they generally prove to be but dreams of gold, and ill-judged abberrations from the proper and natural course of a busy life.

CONNETICUT MIRROR.

Vol. XIX.                             Hartford, Conn., Monday, July 16, 1827.                             No. 5.




FOR  THE  MIRROR.
_____

THE  MONEY DIGGERS. *

Thus saith the book -- 'Permit no witch to live;'
Hence Massachusetts hath expell'd the race,
Connecticut, where swap and dicker thrive,
Allow'd not to their foot a resting place.
With more of hardihood and less of grace,
Vermont receives the sisters grey and lean,
Allows each witch her airy broomstick race,
O'er mighty rocks and mountains dark with green,
Where tempests wake their voice, and torrents roar between.

And one there was among that wicked crew
To whom the enemy a pebble gave,
Through which, at long-off distance, she might view
All treasures of the fathomable wave,
And where the Thames' bright billows gently lave,
The grass-grown piles that flank the ruin'd wharf,
She sent them forth, those two adventurers brave,
Where greasy citizens their bev'rage quaff,
Jeering at enterprize -- aye ready with a laugh.

They came -- those straight-hair'd honest meaning men,
Nor question ask'd they, nor reply did make,
Albeit their locks were lifted like as when
Young Hamlet saw his father. And the shake
Of knocking knees and jaws that seem'd to break,
Told a wild tale of undertaking bold,
While as the oyster-tongs the chiels did take
Dim grew the sight, and every blood drop cold,
As knights in scarce romaunt sung by the bards of old.

For not in daylight were their rites perform'd,
-- When night-cap'd heads were on their pillow laid,
Sleep-freed from biting care, by thought unharm'd.
Snoring e'er word was spoke, or prayer was said --
'Twas then the mattock and the busy spade,
The pump, the bucket and the windlass rope,
In busy silence plied the mystic trade,
While resolution, beckon'd on by hope,
Did sweat and agonize the sought for chest to ope'

Beneath the wave, the iron chest is hot,
Deep growls are heard and read'ning eyes are seen,
Yet of the Black Dog she had told them not,
Nor of the grey wild geese with eyes of green,
That scream'd and yell'd and hover'd close between
The buried gold and the rapacious hand.
Here should she be, tho' mountains intervene,
To scatter, with her crook'd witch-hazle wand,
The wave-born sprites that keep their treasure from the land.

She cannot, may not come, the rotten wharf
Of mould'ring planks and rusty spikes is there,
And he who own'd a quarter or an half
Is disappointed, and the witch is -- where?
Vermont still harbors her -- go seek her there,
The Grand dame of Joe Strickland -- find her nest,
Where summer icicles and snowballs are,
Where black swans paddle and where Petrils rest,
Symmes be your trusty guide and Robert Kid your guest. __________
* Note. It is a fact that two men from Vermont are now, (July 11th) working by the side of one of the wharves in New-London for buried money, by the advice and recommendation of an old woman of that state, who assured them, that she could distinctly see a box of dollars packed edge-wise. The locality was pointed out to an inch, and her only way of discovering the treasure was by looking through a stone, which to ordinary optics was hardly translucent. For the story of the Spanish Galleon, that left so much bullion in and about New London, see Trumbull's History of Connecticut, and for Kidd, inquire of the oldest lady you can find.


Note: This poem was later extensively reprinted, as being the creation of Connecticut Mirror editor John G. C. Brainard, who was a poet in his own right.

AMERICAN MASONIC RECORD,
AND ALBANY SATURDAY MAGAZINE.

Vol. I.                               Albany, New York, Saturday, October 6, 1827.                         No. ?

THE BUCCANEERS. The new Romanic under the title of "The Buccaneers," A Romance of our own country in its ancient day, which was announced some weeks past as in press, will it is understood, make its appearance in about a week in the city of New-York, and will be published in London during the middle of this month, October. The scene of its action lies principally on the Island of Manhattan, or Newfork, though partly at the city of Albany, and its immediate neighbourhood, during the latter end of the 17th century, and at an interesting period of the colonial history, as the work portrays the fierce struggle for supremacy between the factions of the Bayard and Leister families (the provincial houses of York and Lancaster) whose terrible controversies for power, as represented by Smith in his excellent history of New-York, convulsed the province almost to its ruin, giving advantage of annoyance to foreign and intestine enemies, as was proved by the successful inroads in the colony by the French from Canada, and the burning and massacre at Schenectady by the Indians. The celebrated freebooter Capt Kidd is also an important personage in the Romance, and although the fame of this daring robber who was once the terror of the ocean, will most probably be handed down to an hundred succeeding generations, by the old ballad "As I sailed, &c." and the numerous fireside traditions, the coinage of fear and superstition with which our country abounds; there are few but will be gratified at the perusal of a work which describes among its character a rover so savage and relentless: indeed the name of Kidd is in part intimately interwoven with our Colonial Records. He was a pirate during the reign of King William the Third; for according to Smollett, the colonies of North America having grown rich by piracy, Kidd was despatched with a vessel fitted out for the purpose to suppress the maruaders, but he turned pirate himself, and during his career had a notion and fully justified all the anticipations of secret place of retirement on or near a hill about two miles south of the city of Albany, (and which still bears the name of Kiddenhoogten, as it is improperly called Kettenhoogten,) that hill according to tradition he adopted as a place of rendezvous, for those infernal spirits, to whose care he entrusted the enormous sums of money which he buried in the earth, ami there it is said also, he made a cave which is hidden from all human observation in which he buried 50 boxes of gold, and laid upon them 13 human bodies of those whom he had murdered, in order to serve as a talisman against the prying curiosity of such as were in search of hidden treasure. At Coeymans also, it is affirmed, that Kidd remained during part of two seasons, secreted in a barn belonging to one of the name of Coeyman's, and afterwards in a mill called Livingston's mill, the property of Col. Livingston, and ancestor of the present family of that name, who by many was supposed (possibly without foundation) to have protected and encouraged the dangerous marauder. Eventually, Kidd was taken and sent to England, and there tried for murder and piracy, and executed in 1701. Besides an interesting story which the stirring events of the period so easily admits, it is presumed that the Romance of "The Buccaneers" will afford considerable entertainment from a humorous though faithful portraiture of the manners, customs and fashions of the honest Dutch settlers of the New Netherlands, as many of the "Mynheers and frawes," the progenitors of many of our citizens whose names are familiar from their extraction, and as connected from the first settlement with New-York, are said to figure in the pages of this forthcoming work -- and doubtless the simple manners of the olden day have given opportunitiess for many ludicrous though just comparisons with the fashions, luxuries, and follies of our own times.


Note: The full title of Samuel Benjamin Helbert Judah's 1827 book was: The Buccaneers: A Romance of Our Own Country, in Its Ancient Day; Illustrated with Divers Marvelous Histories, and Antique and Facetious Episodes; Gathered from the Most Authentic Chronicles & Affirmed Records Extant from the Settlement of the Nieuw Nederlandts, Until the Time of the Famous Richard Kid

Vol. ?                               New York City, Friday, January 25, 1867.                         No. ?



Captain Kidd and his Treasure.

Every year or two we hear of some new attempt to discover the hidden treasure of Captain Kidd. Now it is in Nova Scotia, now at Lynn, Mass., then at Coventry, Conn., and often at points near New Haven harbor. And yet very few know the story of Captain Kidd's wanderings. We present below an authentic sketch which is almost as good as romance:

The slave trade being a legitimate pursuit and followed as a regular branch of foreign trade for many years, both previous and subsequent to 1690, was exceedingly profitable, though somewhat hazardous, owing to piratical adventurers who followed them into their remote trading places, and often robbed them of their stores and money used in the purchase of negroes. This practice became so great a pest to the mercantile interests that efforts were made by influential merchants of New York to induce the English ministry to assist them in fitting out a cruising vessel, properly armed, to act against privateers.

Col. Robert Livingston, of New York, an active and influential citizen, brought this matter before the English Government and introduced Captain William Kidd, of New York, as an efficient and well known commander, whose fitness for such service was well understood in New York. He was a man of family, and had resided in this city for several years. It was proposed to engage in this enterprise on the footing of a private adventure, although it was also desirable, for some purposes, that the scheme should receive the official countenance of the government The King, Lord Somers, the Earl of Romney, the Duke of Shrewsbury, the Earl of Oxford, and Lord Bellemont joined in making up the necessary expenses of a proper vessel, Col. Livingston also contributing a proportion.

The profits were to be divided among the owners of the ship, allowing a liberal share to Kidd. A commission was issued, December 11, 1695, under the great Seal of England, directed "to the trusty and well beloved Captain William Kidd, commander of the ship Adventure galley." He set sail from Plymouth in April, 1696, and arrived on the American coast where he continued for some time, occasionally entering the harbor of New York and visiting his family in the city. He was considered useful in protecting commerce, for which he received much applause, and the Assembly of the province voted him the sum of two hundred and fifty pounds as a complimentary return for his services.

Soon after this he left this vicinity for more active operations on the coast of Africa, and it was not long ere the astounding news arrived that Kidd had commenced the trade which he had been engaged to subvert, and had committed several piracies. The report of these facts coming to the public knowledge in England, the circumstance was made the subject of a violent attack upon the government by the opposition party, and in the excess of party zeal it was alleged that the king himself, and those concerned in the expedition, were privy to the piratical adventure and sharers in its profits. This charge having some color of foundation, from the actual circumstances of the case, made the question a subject of State inquiry, and thus the name of Kidd, though perhaps personally less obnoxious to the odious characteristics of his profession than many others in history, became, from its associations with a partisan warfare between the great men of the state, the most famous among the pirates in the world. The noblemen engaged in the enterprise underwent the form of a trial for their lives but were acquitted.

The principal scenes of Kidd's piracies were on the eastern coast of Africa, at Madagascar and the vicinity, where he captured and rifled several vessels, without however, so far as we have been informed by history, committing extreme cruelties on his captives, the only person proven to have been killed by him, being a seaman, of his own, named William Moore, whom he accidentally slew by hitting him with a bucket for insubordination. Kidd having amassed a fortune by this cruise shaped his course homeward, seeming, with a strange fatuity, to have supposed that no information of his depredations in those remote parts of the world had reached the scenes of his home.

He brought his vessel into Long Island Sound, in the year 1699, and went ashore at Gardiner's Island, then owned and occupied by Mr. John Gardiner, to whom, from some undiscoverable motive, he made known his desire to bury a quantity of treasure on the island, and did accordingly deposit in the ground a considerable quantity of gold, silver and precious stones, in the presence of Mr. Gardiner, but under strict injunctions of secrecy. This deposit consisted of eleven hundred and twelve ounces of coined gold, two thousand three hundred and fifty ounces of silver, seventeen ounces of jewels and precious stones, sixty-nine precious stones, fifty-seven bags of sugar, forty-one bales of merchandise, seventeen pieces of canvass, one large loadstone, etc.

Having thus disburdened his ship he departed for Boston, with the design, it is supposed, of selling his vessel. While there, however, he was recognized in the street, and apprehended. He was sent to England for trial and indicted for the murder of William Moore, before spoken of, and being convicted, was hanged in chains at Execution dock, May 12, 1701. The wife of Kidd continued her residence in this city after his death, herself and daughter living in seclusion in a habitation on the east side of the town.


Notes: (forthcoming)