“I own I wrote to Kidd to come to New York after I knew he had turned pirate. Menacing him would not bring him but rather wheedling and that way I took and after that manner got him to Boston and secured him. If I was faulty by the letter I wrote by Burgesse, I was no less so by that I sent by Cambel which brought him to Boston.”
Whatever the circumstances or coincidence, Governor Bellomont came over the road from his New York government and arrived in Boston on Friday, May 26, 1699, where he lodged with Mr. Peter Sergeant in what was afterwards known as the “Province House”—the home of the provincial governors—and here he received “late at night” on the evening of June 13th, Mr. Joseph Emmot, the New York lawyer who specialized in admiralty cases.
The Governor afterwards reported to the Council of Trade and Plantations that during that midnight conference he learned that Captain Kidd was on the coast in a sloop (Emmot would not say where) and had brought with him sixty pounds weight of gold, a hundred weight of silver and a number of bales of East India goods and that Kidd had left near the coast of Hispaniola, in a place where no one but himself could find, a great ship loaded with bale goods, saltpetre and other valuable commodities, to the value of at least £30,000. Emmot brought word that if the Governor would give Captain Kidd a pardon he would bring the sloop and treasure to Boston and afterwards go for the great ship. Emmot also delivered to Bellomont two French passes which Captain Kidd had taken on board two Moorish ships that he had captured in the seas of India, “or, as he alleges by his men against his will.”[63] These two ship’s passes were evidence that the prizes taken were lawful spoil under his commission. It was the suppression of this evidence and Captain Kidd’s inability to produce them at the time of his trial that contributed largely to his conviction and execution.
When Governor Bellomont learned of the great value of the booty brought back by Captain Kidd he probably experienced conflicting emotions. Here was plunder to the value of £40,000 or more in which he and his associates might have had a considerable interest and yet, it must slip through his fingers because it chanced that Kidd had been proscribed as a pirate on Nov. 23, 1698, at the instigation of an interfering East India Company. Bellomont’s instructions from London required that Kidd, his late associate and co-partner, should be arrested and as he had been sent to New York with a special mission to suppress piracy and unlawful trading and there seemed to be no way out by which he might now share in the loot, unless Kidd could be cleared of the charge of piracy, there was nothing for him to do but to secure Kidd and send him to London for trial in accordance with the English law. He therefore sent for Duncan Campbell, the postmaster in Boston, a bookseller, who like Captain Kidd, was a Scotchman and an old acquaintance of the captain and instructed him to go with Emmot and obtain from Kidd a statement of what had taken place during his voyage.
Campbell and Emmot sailed from Boston in a small sloop on the morning of June 17th and about three leagues from Block Island met the sloop commanded by Captain Kidd who at that time had sixteen men on board. Seemingly both captain and crew felt reasonably sure of Bellomont’s protection, but Campbell brought back word to the Governor that they had heard in the West Indies of their having been proclaimed pirates and therefore the crew would not consent to come into any port without some assurance from Bellomont that they would not be imprisoned or molested. Captain Kidd had related in much detail the occurrences of his privateering voyage and had protested with much earnestness that he had done nothing contrary to his commission and orders aside from what he was forced to do when overpowered by his men who afterwards deserted. The crew on board the sloop also solemnly protested their innocence of piracy. Kidd sent word to Bellomont that if so directed he would navigate the sloop to England and there render an account of his proceedings.[64]
Duncan Campbell returned to Boston on June 19 and reported to the Governor in writing and the same day a meeting of the Council was held at which Bellomont announced for the first time the return of Captain Kidd and presented the report just made by Postmaster Campbell. The Governor also exhibited a draft of a letter which he proposed to send to Captain Kidd and this was approved by the Council and given to Emmot with instructions to deliver it to Kidd. This letter was in substance a safe conduct and in part reads as follows:[65]
“I have advised with His Majesty’s Council, and shewed them this letter, and they are of the opinion that if your case be so clear as you (or Mr. Emmot for you) have said, that you may safely come hither, and be equipped and fitted out to go and fetch the other ship, and I make no manner of doubt but to obtain the King’s pardon for you, and for those few men you have left, who I understand have been faithful to you, and refused as well to dishonour the Commission you have from England.
“I assure you on my Word and Honour I will perform nicely what I have promised though this I declare beforehand that whatever goods and treasure you may bring hither, I will not meddle with the least bit of them; but they shall be left with such persons as the Council shall advise until I receive orders from England how they shall be disposed of.”
Captain Kidd seems to have taken Bellomont’s assurances at face value, but nevertheless he decided to get rid of most of his valuable cargo before sailing for Boston; so he set a course for Gardiner’s Island at the eastern end of Long Island, where Emmot left him and returned to New York in a small boat. Kidd lay at anchor here for several days. Three or four small sloops appeared in which chests and bales of goods were transshipped and finally Kidd sent for John Gardiner, the owner of the island, and asked him to take charge of a chest and a box containing gold dust with several bales of goods, all of which he assured him were intended for Governor Bellomont. Gardiner consented and gave him a receipt. Meanwhile Mrs. Kidd[66] and her children had come from New York, and taking on board Benjamin Bevins, a pilot, Kidd sailed around the Cape and reached Boston Harbor on Saturday, July 1st, where tide waiters were put on board the sloop and the captain and his wife found lodgings at the house of Postmaster Campbell.
The Governor was sick with the gout when Kidd reached Boston, but on Monday, July 3d, he met with the Council and Captain Kidd was sent for and questioned. He asked leave to make a detailed report in writing. The next day he was present with five of his company and was questioned further and allowed more time in which to prepare his report. On Thursday morning at nine o’clock, he was sent for again and informed the Council that his report would be ready that evening. It was at this meeting that the Governor first informed the Council that he had instructions to arrest Kidd and his men and that afternoon the warrants were issued. It chanced that the constables looking for Captain Kidd came upon him near the Sergeant house where the Governor lodged and when Kidd found that he was in danger of arrest he ran into the house with the constables after him, in the hope of finding a refuge in the Governor’s study. It was a dramatic situation and Captain Kidd at once found that Bellomont’s fair assurances of protection were worthless.