The Guilt of Kidd.—Rumors of Buried Treasure.—Mesmeric Revelation.—Adventures of Bradish.—Strange Character of Major Bonnet.—His Piracies.—Encounters.—Indications of Insanity.—No Temptation to Turn Pirate.—Blackbeard.—Bonnet Deposed.
Mr. Charles Elliot, in his History of New England, writes: “It seems to have been felt necessary by those who were charged, in England, with complicity with Captain Kidd, that a vigorous prosecution should be urged, and that an example should be made of him, to satisfy a clamorous public opinion. He was brought to trial, and was convicted and sentenced for the murder of William Moore, one of his own sailors, whom he had struck in an altercation.
“This appears to have been the only blood laid against him; and the charge of piracy could hardly have been proved. As was the custom of that day, Kidd was not allowed counsel. He plead his commissions for what he had done, but was roughly treated by the court; and Livingston, who was one of his partners and sureties, had got possession of his papers, and refused to give them up to him.
“Kidd probably had no idea of being charged with piracy, nor did he consider himself a pirate; and if there had been no charge made against his partners, he would not have died on the gallows. He was hanged at Execution Dock, May 12, 1701; and all England was agog with the doings of the pirate Kidd. It was a mere accident that Kidd was hanged as a pirate instead of being feasted as a victor.”
These scenes occurred one hundred and seventy-five years ago. And yet, for some inexplicable reason, while hundreds of other events of vastly greater moment have passed into oblivion, the name of Captain Kidd, from that hour to this, has been almost a household word in both England and America.
Many believed that the Quedagh Merchant, instead of being burned at sea, was brought into the Hudson River at night, and sunk near the Highlands, with most of her treasure on board. Several circumstances seemed to corroborate this assertion. At the base of the Dunderberg, there could be seen sunk, deep in the bed of the river, and almost buried in its sands, the wreck of some large ship. A pamphlet was published, entitled:
“An Account of Some of the Traditions and Experiments Respecting Captain Kidd’s Piratical Vessel.”
The traditions here referred to asserted that Kidd’s vessel, the Quedagh Merchant, laden with the treasures of the East, was chased up the North River by an English man-of-war. Kidd, finding escape impossible, collected as much money as he could carry, and set fire to the ship, having left by far the larger part of the gold and silver on board. With a portion of the crew he ascended the river much farther, in boats, and then crossed the country, through the wilderness, to Boston.
These traditions are embellished with many romantic stories. It is said that as he and his piratic comrades were journeying along, they came to a log house in the woods. The man of the household was absent at his work. The woman, thinking that they were savages, in terror fled at their approach. In her fright she left one of her children behind. The bloodthirsty pirate, Kidd, in pure wantoness thrust his sword through the child.
An old Indian, who had wandered far away to Michigan, declared that he was on the river-bank when the pirates set fire to the ship and took to their boats. Very graphically he described the midnight scene as, buried in the glooms of the forest, he witnessed it in the brilliant illumination of the blazing vessel. He was induced to come all the way from Michigan to the Hudson to point out the spot of the sunken vessel. And deep in the water the charred timbers were to be seen. Another pamphlet was published, entitled: