But the most flagrant fiction fabricated by a Whig historian in relation to poor Kidd, is not to be found in Macaulay’s history, but in the pages of a grave historical work, compiled by an eminent lawyer, who in his day had filled not only the office of Lord Chief Justice, but also that of Lord Chancellor. That great legal luminary, Lord Campbell, in his “Life of Somers” has not hesitated to insert a circumstantial fable to the effect that Kidd was caught red-handed on the high seas in the midst of his criminal career. In the fifth volume of his “Lives of the Chancellors,” pages 126 and 127, he tells the tale thus: “A noble vessel called the Adventure Galley was fitted out, and the command of her given to William Kidd, a naval officer, esteemed for honour as well as for gallantry. On arriving in the Indian Seas, he turned pirate himself, and cruised against the commerce of all nations indiscriminately, till after a sharp engagement with an English frigate in which several fell on both sides, he was captured and brought home in irons.” To such depths can history sink when written by political partisans of the highest rank and respectability.
APPENDIX A
1. Copy of Grant of Pirates’ Goods
2. Articles of Agreement between Bellamont, Livingstone, and Kidd
3. Kidd’s Sailing Orders