The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1870-02-11

was regularly issued. Under this ht
sailed from Plymouth for New YOrk
in April, 1890, In q ship called the Ad.
venture Galley. On his way thithel
he took q French ship which he carried
1 into New York, where she was con-
demneI, and there he enlisted = large
number of men by promising them q
large share of the prizes he might take.
His whole crew, in the end, consisted
of about $50 men. Bellamont did moi
reach New York till nearly two years
after Kidd had sailed from England,
and found on arriving there that instead
OF having exterminated piracy, the
| man whom he had commissioned fol
that purpose had become the terror a
| the O sean by the bold and indiscrimi-
nate war which he bad been waging
against the vessels of all nations. Such
an issue Of an expedition, which the
ministry and leading wings had orig
mated, could hardly fail to bring re-
proach upon its authors, especially
when party spirit was as rife as it then
was in England. Lord SOmes, though
of long tried worth and great ssgacity
as a political leader, was particularly
obnoxious to the tories, and after hold
ing the great seal for seven years was,
by their instigation, dismissed from
Office. -
Ini70l he, with ths.E s.EAslAef Portland
and Oxford, were impeached for high
crimes and misdemeanors, and one OF
the articles against the late chancellor
was his connection with the late Capt.
Kidd. Kidd was then examined at the
bar of the House of Commons, with a
view to make evidence against the min.
istry but the attempt to connect them
in any way calculated to impeach their
moral or political character wholly
failed. The Commons did not pursue
their articles of impeachment and no
trial was ever had upon them, and
when the trial of Kidd took place the
entire innocence o: all vhO were inter-
ested in the enterprise which had been
intrusted to him was cOnclusively es-
| tablished.
The course which Kidd pursued, af-
ter returning to New York, with his
augmented crew, was directed to the
Indian Ocean, where he made many
rich prizes, and, having divided his
booty with his crew, about ninety left
him and engaged in other similar adj
ventures. He thereupon burned his
own vessel and embarked in one of his
prizes for the West Indies. Here he
purchased slOop, and leaving his prize
i'm charge of part of his crew, he sail
ed with the remainder for New Eng
land, and with a strange degree OffOOl-
hardness ventured to appear openly i'm
Boston, and to engage i'm traffic there.
AS soon, however, as his arrival there
was known, he was sent for by the
government, and required to render an
account of what he had done under his
commission, within three days. AS he
failed to comply with this order, an Of
ficer was sent to arrest him on the 9Th
of July, 1899, but Kidd, being determin-
ed not to surrender, drew his sword
upon the officer, and only submitted
after he wa, OverpOwered by superior
force. The governor made no delay in
sending notice of his arrest to England,
and so important was it deemed to Sc
cure him from escape, that man-Of-
war was fitted out for the purpose and
ordered to Boston to bring him to Eng
land.
Upon his being arrested i'm Boston,
the plate and other valuable property
was seized i'm New York, but subse-
quently given up by the government
to his wife, upon her representation
that she had come honestly by it. True
to her character as woman and wife,
she came to Boston to visit her hus-
band in prison, and made mos. urgent
application to the governor to extend
favor towards him. This application,
as well as that for the restoration of her
property, is among the curious papers
preserved i'm the secretary's Office of the
which first involved the ministry i'm a
connection with Kidd, attended their
efforts to remove him to England.
The vessel sent out for the purpose, af-
ter encountering tremendous storms,
was obliged to put back without reach
ing her destination, and it was openly
charged that they dare not bring the
matter to public trial. Kidd, however,
together with one Bradish, a famous
pirate, was at length sent home, where
he was indicted and put upon his trial
for murder and piracy. This did not
take place until the eighth of May, 1701,
although, as has been stated, his origi-
nal arrest was made nearly two years
prior to that date.
In regard to the charge of murder of
which he was convicted, it seems to
have been the result of hasty brawl
between him and his gunner, William
Moore, and at this day would have
been regarded as an act of manslaugh-
ter only. The blow which caused his
death was inflicted with q bucket, and
was given i'm consequence of irritating
language used by the deceased towards
his commander i'm an angry dispute.
1t made, however, but little practical
difference with the prisoner, whether
the verdict i'm this instance was right or
wrong, for upon each of the five indict-
ments which followed, he was convict
ed, and general sentence of death was
pronounced upon him. Eight of his
associates were convicted and senten-
ced at the same time, but Kidd protest.
ed to the last, that he had been sacri-
feed by perjured witnesses. This SCH
tence was soon after executed upon
him, and the name of Captain Kidd
has ever since been associated i'm the
legends of our early history, with that
of the powers of darkness and the un-
solved mystery of countless heaps of
buried treasure.