Kidd. “You are a rogue.”
Again:
Kidd. “Mr. Bradenham, are you not promised your life to take away mine?”
Mr. Justice Turton. “He is not bound to answer that question. He is very fit to be made an evidence of the King. Perhaps there can be no other in this case than such who are in his circumstances.”
In other words, those of the crew who had faithfully stood by their captain, and helped him to bring his prize home to America in the interests of their employers, one of whom was the King himself, could not be relied on as witnesses. The only witnesses who could be trusted to swear through thick and thin against Kidd, were two men who by their own admission had deserted their colours and joined Culliford in open piracy against the ships of all nations.
To quote again from the verbatim report:
Kidd. “I hope the King’s counsel will not put him in the way. It is hard that a couple of rascals should take away the King’s subjects’ lives. They are a couple of rogues and rascals.”
Again, when one of them conveniently feigned ignorance, and an answer by the other had been suggested to him by one of the counsel for the prosecution:
Kidd. “It is a fine trade that you must take away so many of the King’s subjects’ lives, and know nothing at all of the matter.”