w, whom he had called a dog, was provoked into exclaiming,
in an agony of remorse, "Yes, I am a dog; but it is you that have made
me so." Kidd, in a fury, struck the man dead.

News then travelled very slowly from the eastern seas to England. But,
in August 1698, it was known in London that the Adventure Galley from
which so much had been hoped was the terror of the merchants of Surat,
and of the villagers of the coast of Malabar. It was thought probable
that Kidd would carry his booty to some colony. Orders were therefore
sent from Whitehall to the governors of the transmarine possessions
of the Crown, directing them to be on the watch for him. He meanwhile,
having burned his ship and dismissed most of his men, who easily found
berths in the sloops of other pirates, returned to New York with the
means, as he flattered himself, of making his peace and of living
in splendour. He had fabricated a long romance to which Bellamont,
naturally unwilling to believe that he had been duped and had been the
means of duping others, was at first disposed to listen with favour. But
the truth soon came out. The governor did his duty firmly; and Kidd was
placed in close confinement till orders arrived from the Admiralty that
he should be sent to England.

To an intelligent and candid judge of human actions it will not appear
that any of the persons at whose expense the Adventure Galley was fitted
out deserved serious blame. The worst that could be imputed even to
Bellamont, who had drawn in all the rest, was that he had been led into
a fault by his ardent zeal for the public service, and by the generosity
of a nature as little prone to suspect as to devise villanies. His
friends in England might surely be pardoned for giving credit to his
recommendation. It is highly probable that the motive which induced some
of them to aid his design was genuine public spirit. But, if we suppose
them to have had a view to gain, it was to legitimate gain. Their
conduct was the very opposite of corrupt. Not only had they taken no
money. They had disbursed money largely, and had disbursed it with the
certainty that they should never be reimbursed unless the outlay proved
beneficial to the public. That they meant well they proved by staking
thousands on the success of their plan; and, if they erred in judgment,
the loss of those thousands was surely a sufficient punishment for such
an error. On this subject there would probably have been no difference
o