appearing, they having all shared ten or eleven Pounds a
man, except the four last, they were all found Guilty. After which the
Judge set forth the enormity of their Crimes: And then pronounced
Sentence of Death upon the persons aforesaid, except Major _Bonnet_,
who not being brought back in time, was not tried till the 10th of
_November_; and being then also found Guilty, he received Sentence in
like manner as the others; before whom Judge _Trot_ made an excellent
speech, saying afterwards.

_And now, having discharged my Duty as a Christian, I must do my
Office as a Judge, which is_

_You the said _Stede Bonnet_ shall go from hence, to the Place from
whence you came, and from thence to the Place of Execution, where you
shall be hanged by the Neck till you are dead._

[Illustration]

[Illustration: CAPTAIN WILLIAM KID]

[Illustration]

CAPTAIN WILLIAM KID

We are now going to give an account of one whose name is better known
in _England_, than most of those whose histories we have already
related; the person we mean is Captain _Kid_, whose public Trial and
Execution here, rendered him the subject of all conversation.

In the beginning of King _William's_ War, Captain _Kid_ commanded a
Privateer in the _West-Indies_, and by several adventurous actions
acquired the reputation of a brave man, as well as an experienced
seaman. About this time the Pirates were very troublesome in those
parts, wherefore Captain _Kid_ was recommended by the Lord
_Bellamont_, then Governor of _Barbadoes_, as well as by several other
persons, to the Government here, as a person very fit to be entrusted
with the command of a Government Ship, and to be employed in cruising
upon the Pirates, as knowing those Seas perfectly well, and being
acquainted with their lurking places; but what reasons governed the
politics of those times, I cannot tell, but this proposal met with no
encouragement here, though it is certain it would have been of great
consequence to the subject, our merchants suffering incredible damages
by those robbers.

Upon this neglect the Lord _Bellamont_, and some others who knew what
great captures had been made by the Pirates, and what a prodigious
wealth must be in their possession, were tempted to fit out a ship at
their own private charge, and to give the command of it to Captain
_Kid_; and to give the thing a greater reputation, as well as to keep
their seamen under the better command, they procured t