Of Captain Mission Part 1

Captain Mission.

by Daniel Defoe.

INTRODUCTION

Defoe has been recognized as the author of _A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pyrates_ since 1932 when John Robert Moore suggested that the supposed author, Captain Charles Johnson, like Andrew Moreton, Kara Selym or Captain Roberts, was merely another mask for the creator of _Robinson Crusoe_. Although most of the first volume is of minor literary importance, the second section which appeared in 1728 as _The History of the Pyrates_ commenced with a life "Of Captain Misson and His Crew," one of Defoe's most remarkable and neglected works of fiction. In much the same manner and at the same time that John Gay was satirizing Walpole's government in _The Beggar's Opera_, Defoe began to use his pirates as a commentary on the injustice and hypocrisy of contemporary English society. Among Defoe's gallery of pirates are Captain White, who refused to rob from women and children; Captain Bellamy, the proletarian revolutionist; and captain North, whose sense of justice and honesty was a rebuke to the corruption of government under Walpole. But the fictional Captain Misson, the founder of a communist utopia, is by far the most original of these creations.

If we were to accept the view of nineteenth-century critics, that Defoe was one of the earliest exponents of _laissez faire_, his creation of a communist utopia would seem remarkable indeed. But paradoxes fascinated Defoe, and his ideas can seldom be reduced to unambiguous plat.i.tudes. He was especially fascinated by the comparison between businessmen and thieves. In 1707 he urged the government to pardon the Madagascar pirates if they agreed to stop their crimes, pay a large sum of money and "become honest Freeholders, as others of our _West-India_ Pyrates, _Merchants I should have said_, have done before them." And he noted that "it would make a sad Chasm on the _Exchange of London_, if all the Pyrates should be taken away from the Merchants there."[1] Twelve years later just before the start of the South Sea Bubble, Defoe attacked stock-jobbing as "a Branch of Highway Robbing."[2]

Although these attacks were directed mainly at "trade thieves" and corruptions in business practices, they reflect Defoe's growing concern with problems of poverty and wealth in England. In his preface to the first volume of the _General History of the Pyrates_, Defoe argued that the unemployed seaman had no choice but to "_steal or starve_." When the pirate, Captain Bellamy, boards a merchant ship from Boston, he attacks the inequality of capitalist society, the ship owners, and most of all, the Captain:

_d.a.m.n ye, you are a sneaking Puppy, and so are all those who will submit to be governed by Laws which rich Men have made for their own Security, for the cowardly Whelps have not the Courage otherwise to defend what they get by their Knavery; but d.a.m.n ye altogether: d.a.m.n them for a Pack of crafty Rascals, and you, who serve them, for a Parcel of hen-hearted Numskuls. They villify us, the Scoundrels do, when there is only this Difference, they rob the Poor under the Cover of Law, forsooth, and we plunder the Rich under the Protection of our own Courage._[3]

Bellamy asks the crew of the captured ship to abandon the slavery of working for low wages under severe captains for the complete economic and political equality of life on a pirate ship.

Government on Captain Misson's ship, the _Victoire_, and in the colony of Libertalia is partially an idealization of the pirate's creed. But two other elements which must be considered are, first, the concept of government in the state of nature, and secondly, the ideal of the socialist utopia. Most political theorists of Defoe's time postulated a state of nature in which man lived either entirely free from government or under loose patriarchal control, from which he was removed either by the invention of money, the discovery of agriculture or by some crime.

To a certain extent, Misson's pirate government may be regarded as a stage in the evolution of government. In _The Farther Adventures of Robinson Crusoe_, Defoe showed how government evolved from the anarchy of the state of nature. Both Crusoe's colony and Libertalia are eventually forced to establish government, private property and criminal laws, but Libertalia, which retains its egalitarian and democratic character, is overthrown by its failure to account for human evil and crime.

A second influence on Captain Misson's ideology is Plutarch's description of the laws of Sparta and Rome. Even during the "Anti-Communist Period" which followed the Glorious Revolution, the well-regulated state of the Lacedemonians remained the norm for Utopias.

The influence of Plutarch pervades the biographies in the _General History of the Pyrates._ Lycurgus' laws echo throughout Misson's attacks on luxury and the unequal distribution of wealth, while Plutarch's study of Spartacus, which is mentioned in Defoe's preface, may well have been the model for his hero.

But neither the desire to regain the purity of the state of nature nor an admiration for Spartan simplicity entirely explain Misson's vigorous demand for freedom and his attacks on the corruption of the ruling cla.s.s. By refusing to fly the pirate flag, Misson dramatizes the growing revolt of the poor against a useless n.o.bility. The crew of the _Victoire_ are, prophetically enough, French. Their aspiration is for a society following the precepts of _la carriere ouverte aux talents_; their revolt is that of a few courageous men unafraid to engage in the pirate's "war against mankind" while those of lesser courage "dance to the Musick of their Chains."

Defoe's study of Misson is different from the Utopias of More, Bacon or Campanella in so far as there is no discovery of an ideal civilization.

Libertalia is a Utopia which reflects a direct reaction to the abuses of the time--abuses of economic, political and religious freedom.

Antic.i.p.ating Beccaria's criticism of the death penalty by almost forty years, Carracioli argues that since man's right to life is inalienable, no government can have the power of capital punishment.[4] Misson's belief in equality is extended to include the negro slaves the _Victoire_ takes at sea as well as the natives of Madagascar. After asking the negroes to join his crew, Misson tells his men that the Trading for those of our own Species, could never be agreeable to the Eyes of divine Justice: That no Man had Power of the Liberty of another; and while those who profess'd a more enlightened Knowledge of the Deity, sold men like Beasts; they prov'd that their Religion was no more than Crimace...: For his Part he hop'd, he spoke the Sentiments of all his brave Companions, he had not exempted his Neck from the galling Yoak of Slavery, and a.s.serted his own Liberty to enslave others.

Slavery is banished from Misson's ship, and the negroes are schooled in the principles of freedom.

Perhaps the most difficult problem in discussing the principles of Misson and Carracioli is to attempt an explanation of why Defoe, a Presbyterian, should have made his protagonists into deists. Defoe attacks Carracioli's deistic arguments through his narrator, Captain Johnson, who remarks that such ideas are pernicious only to "weak Men who cannot discover their Fallacy." But since similar ideas appear in Robert _Drury's Journal_ published a year later, it may be a.s.sumed that the arguments of the deists held a certain fascination for Defoe at this time. Carracioli's deism also has a dramatic function in the story. That on a voyage to Rome a young man like Misson should be converted to deism by a disillusioned "lewd" priest was in harmony with the traditional English belief in the dangers of Italy.[5] That Carracioli should combine the rebellion against organized religion with the revolt against monarchy is indicative of Defoe's keen apprehension of the future course of history.

Considered as a short novel, the history "Of Captain Misson and his Crew" reveals many of the same techniques which Defoe used in his longer works. To gain a sense of verisimilitude the narrator pretends to be working from a ma.n.u.script, a device which Defoe also employed in his _Memoirs of a Cavalier_. As in _Colonel Jack_ real historical figures and events from the War of the Spanish Succession are woven into the adventures of the _Victoire_. Captain Misson and his crew sink the Winchelsea, an English ship lost in the West Indies at the end of August, 1707, and they barely escape from Admiral Wager's fleet which fought a famous battle there in 1708. Even the name of Misson's ship, the _Victoire_; was undoubtedly familiar to Defoe as the vessel commanded by the famous French corsair, Cornil Saus.[6] So convincing is Defoe that although his hero is shown meeting a real freebooter, Captain Tew, ten years after Tew's death, Misson is still included in the histories of piracy.[7]

Also typical of Defoe's fiction is the relationship between Captain Misson, the leader, and his intellectual mentor, Carracioli. Colonel Jack and his tutor, Moll Flanders and her Governess and particularly, Captain Singleton and William Walters form similar groups. Just as William Walters, a Quaker, reminds Captain Singleton and the crew that their business is not fighting but making money, so Carracioli addresses lengthy speeches to the crew, converting everyone on the _Victoire_ to democracy and deism. Misson's Libertalia takes root in Madagascar, where Singleton wanted to establish a colony, while both Carracioli and Walters adapt the secular aspects of their religion to piracy. But whereas Walters eventually converts Singleton into an honest Christian, Carracioli leads Misson into piracy.

In the history "Of Captain Misson and his Crew," Defoe decided to pursue the same method of third person narrative as in his brief biographies of real pirates. The result is that he merely provides a sketch of political theories rather than a study of human beings. Of course there are good reasons for this. Defoe was more interested in dramatizing proletarian utopian ideals than in developing the inner workings of Misson's mind. The novelette is unified by its epic theme, not by its study of character or its episodic plot.

Although Defoe toyed with radical notions throughout _The History of the Pyrates_, he had little faith in their practicality. Libertalia must be understood as Defoe's best expression of political and social ideals which he admired but considered unworkable. The continuation of Misson's career in the section "Of Captain Tew" depicts the decline and fall of the utopia and the hero's tragic death as a disillusioned idealist.

This, however, is another story, a story which suggested that private property was necessary, equality impossible and slavery a useful expedient for colonization. It was a far more comforting message for the Augustan Age, but it could not silence the tocsins of the French Revolution which sound throughout the speeches of Misson and Carracioli.

Maximillian E. Novak University of Michigan

Bibliographical Note

The text of "Of Captain Misson and His Crew" has been reproduced from the Henry E. Huntington Library's first edition copy of the second volume of _A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pyrates_ which appeared under the t.i.tle _The History of the Pyrates_.

Notes to the Introduction

[Footnote 1: Daniel Defoe, _A Review of the Affairs of France_, ed. A.

W. Secord (New York, 1938), IV, 424a.]

[Footnote 2: _The Anatomy of Exchange--Alley_ (London, 1719), p. 8.]

[Footnote 3: _A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pyrates_ (London, 1728), II, 220.]

[Footnote 4: See Cesare Beccaria, _An Essay on Crimes and Punishments_ (Stanford, 1953), pp. 97-99.]

[Footnote 5: In the previous year Defoe had written that "it was the most dangerous thing in the World for a young Gentleman, sober and virtuous, to venture into _Italy_, till he was thoroughly grounded in Principle, ... for that nothing was more ordinary, than for such either to be seduc'd, by the Subtlety of the Clergy, to embrace a false Religion, or by the Artifice of a worse Enemy, to give up all Religion, and sink into _Scepticism_ and _Deism_, or, perhaps, _Atheism_." _A New Family Instructor_ (London, 1727), p. 17.]

[Footnote 6: See Ruth Bourne, _Queen Anne's Navy in the West Indies_ (New Haven, 1939), pp. 63, 169-172; and _Ma.n.u.scripts of the House of Lords_, New Series (London, 1921), VII, 117-119.]

[Footnote 7: See Philip Gosse, _The History of Piracy_ (New York, 1934), p. 194; and Patrick Pringle, _Jolly Roger_ (London, 1953), pp. 136-138.]

_Omne tulit punctum, qui miscuit utile dulci_. Hor.

THE HISTORY OF THE PYRATES. VOL. II.

OF CAPTAIN MISSON.

We can be somewhat particular in the Life of this Gentleman, because, by very great Accident, we have got into our Hands a _French_ Ma.n.u.script, in which he himself gives a Detail of his Actions. He was born in _Provence_, of an ancient Family; his Father, whose true Name he conceals, was Master of a plentiful Fortune; but having a great Number of Children, our Rover had but little Hopes of other Fortune than what he could carve out for himself with his Sword. His Parents took Care to give him an Education equal to his Birth. After he had pa.s.sed his Humanity and Logick, and was a tolerable Mathematician, at the Age of Fifteen he was sent to _Angiers_, where he was a Year learning His Exercises. His Father, at his Return home, would have put him into the Musketeers; but as he was of a roving Temper, and much affected with the Accounts he had read in Books of Travels, he chose the Sea as a Life which abounds with more Variety, and would afford him an Opportunity to gratify his Curiosity, by the Change of Countries Having made this Choice, his Father, with Letters of Recommendation, and every Thing fitting for him, sent him Voluntier on board the _Victoire_, commanded by Monsieur _Fourbin_, his Relation. He was received on Board with all possible Regard by the Captain, whose Ship was at _Ma.r.s.eilles_, and was order'd to cruise soon after _Misson's_ Arrival. Nothing could be more agreeable to the Inclinations of our Voluntier than this Cruize, which made him acquainted with the most noted Ports of the _Mediterranean_, and gave him a great Insight into the practical Part of Navigation. He grew fond of this Life, and was resolved to be a compleat Sailor, which made him always one of the first on a Yard Arm, either to Hand or Reef, and very inquisitive in the different Methods of working a Ship: His Discourse was turn'd on no other Subject, and he would often get the Boatswain and Carpenter to teach him in their Cabbins the const.i.tuent Parts of a Ship's Hull, and how to rigg her, which he generously paid 'em for; and tho' he spent a great Part of his Time with these two Officers, yet he behaved himself with such Prudence that they never attempted at a Familiarity, and always paid the Respect due to his Family. The Ship being at _Naples_, he obtained Leave of his Captain to go to _Rome_, which he had a great Desire to visit. Hence we may date his Misfortunes; for, remarking the licentious Lives of the Clergy (so different from the Regularity observ'd among the _French_ Ecclesiasticks,) the Luxury of the Papal Court, and that nothing but Hulls of Religion was to be found in the Metropolis of the Christian Church, he began to figure to himself that all Religion was no more than a Curb upon the Minds of the Weaker, which the wiser Sort yielded to, in Appearance only. These Sentiments, so disadvantageous to Religion and himself, were strongly riveted by accidentally becoming acquainted with a lewd Priest, who was, at his Arrival (by meer Chance) his Confessor, and after that his Procurer and Companion, for he kept him Company to his Death. One Day, having an Opportunity, he told _Misson_, a Religious was a very good Life, where a Man had a subtle enterprising Genius, and some Friends; for such a one wou'd, in a short Time, rise to such Dignities in the Church, the Hopes of which was the Motive of all the wiser Sort, who voluntarily took upon them the sacerdotal Habit. That the ecclesiastical State was govern'd with the same Policy as were secular Princ.i.p.alities and Kingdoms; that what was beneficial, not what was meritorious and virtuous, would be alone regarded. That there were no more Hopes for a Man of Piety and Learning in the Patrimony of St.

_Peter_, than in any other Monarchy, nay, rather less; for this being known to be real, that Man's rejected as a Visionary, no way fit for Employment; as one whose Scruples might prove prejudicial; for its a Maxim, that Religion and Politicks can never set up in one House. As to our Statesmen, don't imagine that the Purple makes 'em less Courtiers than are those of other Nations; they know and pursue the _Reggione del Stato_ (a Term of Art which means Self-Interest) with as much Cunning and as little Conscience as any Secular; and are as artful where Art is required, and as barefaced and impudent when their Power is great enough to support 'em, in the oppressing the People, and aggrandizing their Families. What their Morals are, you may read in the Practice of their Lives, and their Sentiments of Religion from this Saying of a certain Cardinal, _Quantum Lucrum ex ista fabula Christi!_ which many of 'em may say, tho' they are not so foolish. For my Part, I am quite tir'd of the Farce, and will lay hold on the first Opportunity to throw off this masquerading Habit; for, by Reason of my Age, I must act an under Part many Years; and before I can rise to share the Spoils of the People, I shall, I fear, be too old to enjoy the Sweets of Luxury; and, as I am an Enemy to Restraint, I am apprehensive I shall never act up to my Character, and carry thro' the Hypocrite with Art enough to rise to any considerable Post in the Church. My Parents did not consult my Genius, or they would have given me a Sword instead of a Pair of Beads.

_Misson_ advised him to go with him Voluntier, and offer'd him Money to cloath him; the Priest leap'd at the Proposal, and a Letter coming to _Misson_ from his Captain, that he was going to _Leghorn_, and left to him either to come to _Naples_, or go by Land; he chose the latter, and the _Dominican_, whom he furnish'd with Money, clothing himself very Cavalierly, threw off his Habit, and preceeded him two Days, staying at _Pisa_ for _Misson_; from whence they went together to _Leghorn_, where they found the _Victoire_, and Signor _Caraccioli_, recommended by his Friend, was received on Board. Two Days after they weigh'd from hence, and after a Week's Cruize fell in with two _Sally_ Men, the one of twenty, the other of twenty four Guns; the _Victoire_ had but thirty mounted, though she had Ports for forty. The Engagement was long and b.l.o.o.d.y, for the _Sally_ Man hop'd to carry the _Victoire_; and, on the contrary, Captain _Fourbin_, so far from having any Thoughts of being taken, he was resolutely bent to make Prize of his Enemies, or sink his Ship. One of the _Sally_ Men was commanded by a _Spanish_ Renegade, (though he had only the t.i.tle of a Lieutenant) for the Captain was a young Man who knew little of Marine Affairs.

This Ship was called the _Lyon_; and he attempted, more than once, to board the _Victoire_, but by a Shot betwixt Wind and Water, he was obliged to sheer off, and running his Guns, &c. on one Side, bring her on the careen to stop his Leak; this being done with too much Precipitation, she overset, and every Soul was lost: His Comrade seeing this Disaster, threw out all his small sails, and endeavour'd to get off, but the _Victoire_ wrong'd her, and oblig'd her to renew the Fight, which she did with great Obstinacy, and made Monsieur _Fourbin_ despair of carrying her if he did not board; he made Preparations accordingly.

Signior _Caraccioli_ and _Misson_ were the two first on board when the Command was given; but they and their Followers were beat back by the Despair of the _Sally_ Men; the former received a Shot in his Thigh, and was carried down to the Surgeon. The _Victoire_ laid her on board the second time, and the _Sally_ Men defended their Decks with such Resolution, that they were cover'd with their own, and the dead Bodies of their Enemies. _Misson_ seeing one of 'em jump down the Main-Hatch with a lighted Match, suspecting his Design, resolutely leap'd after him, and reaching him with his Sabre, laid him dead the Moment he going to set Fire to the Powder. The _Victoire_ pouring in more Men, the _Mahometans_ quitted the Decks, finding Resistance vain, and fled for Shelter to the Cook Room, Steerage and Cabbins, and some run between Decks. The _French_ gave 'em Quarters, and put the Prisoners on board the _Victoire_, the Prize yielding nothing worth mention, except Liberty to about fifteen Christian Slaves; she was carried into and sold with the Prisoners at _[text unreadable]_. The Turks lost a great many Men, the _French_ not less than 35 in boarding, for they lost very few by the great Shot, the _Sally_ Men firing mostly at the Masts and Rigging, hoping by disabling to carry her. The limited Time of their Cruize being out, the _Victoire_ returned to _Ma.r.s.eilles_, from whence _Misson_, taking his Companion, went to visit his Parents, to whom the Captain sent a very advantageous Character, both of his Courage and Conduct. He was about a Month at home when his Captain wrote to him, that his Ship was ordered to _Roch.e.l.le_, from whence he was to sail for the _West-Indies_ with some Merchant Men. This was very agreeable to _Misson_ and Signior _Caraccioli_, who immediately set out for _Ma.r.s.eilles_. This Town is well fortified, has four Parish Churches, and the Number of Inhabitants is computed to be about 120,0000; the Harbour is esteemed the safest in the _Mediterranean_, and is the common Station for the _French_ Gallies.

Leaving this Place, they steer'd for _Roch.e.l.le_, where the _Victoire_ was dock'd, the Merchant Ships not being near ready. _Misson_, who did not Care to pa.s.s so long a Time in Idleness, proposed to his Comrade the taking a Cruize on board the _Triumph_, who was going into the _English Channel_; the _Italian_ readily contented to it.

Between the Isle of _Guernsey_ and the _Start Point_ they met with the _Mayflower_, Captain _Balladine_ Commanded, a Merchant Ship of 18 Guns, richly laden, and coming from _Jamaica_. The Captain of the _English_ made a gallant resistance, and fought his Ship so long, that the _French_ could not carry her into Harbour, wherefore they took the Money, and what was most valuable, out of her; and finding she made more Water than the Pumps could free, quitted, and saw her go down in less than four Hours after. Monsieur _le Blanc_, the _French_ Captain, received Captain _Balladine_ very civilly, and would not suffer either him or his Men to be stripp'd, saying, _None but Cowards ought be treated after that Manner; that brave Men ought to treat such, though their Enemies, as Brothers; and that to use a gallant Man (who does his Duty) ill, speaks a Revenge which cannot proceed but from a Coward Soul._ He order'd that the Prisoners should leave their Chests; and when some of his Men seem'd to mutter, he bid 'em remember the Grandeur of the Monarch they serv'd; that they were neither Pyrates nor Privateers; and, as brave Men, they ought to shew their Enemies an Example they would willingly have follow'd, and use their Prisoners as they wish'd to be us'd.

They running up the _English_ Channel as high as _Beachy Head_, and, in returning, fell in with three fifty Gun Ships, which gave Chace to the _Triumph_; but as she was an excellent Sailor, she run 'em out of Sight in seven Gla.s.ses, and made the best of her Way for the _Lands-End_ they here cruized eight Days, then doubling Cape _Cornwall_, ran up the _Bristol_ Channel, near as far as _Nash Point_, and intercepted a small Ship from _Barbadoes_, and stretching away to the Northward, gave Chase to a Ship they saw in the Evening, but lost her in the Night. The _Triumph_ stood then towards _Milford_ and spying a Sail, endeavour'd to cut her off the Land, but found it impossible; for she got into the Haven, though they came up with her very fast, and she had surely been taken, had the Chase had been any thing longer.

Captain _Balladine_, who took the Gla.s.s, said it was the _Port Royal_, a _Bristol_ Ship which left _Jamaica_ in Company with him and the _Charles_. They now return'd to their own Coast, and sold their Prize at _Brest_, where, at his Desire, they left Captain _Balladine_, and Monsieur _le Blanc_ made him a Present of Purse with 40 _Louis's_ for his Support; his Crew were also left here.

At the Entrance into this Harbour the _Triumph_ struck upon a Rock, but receiv'd no Damage: This Entrance, called _Genlet_, is very dangerous on Account of the Number of Rocks which lie on each Side under Water, though the Harbour is certainly the best in _France_. The Mouth of the Harbour is defended by a strong Castle; the Town is well fortified, and has a Citadel for its farther Defence, which is of considerable Strength. In 1694 the _English_ attempted a Descent, but did not find their Market, for they were beat off with the Loss of their General, and a great many Men. From hence the _Triumph_ return'd to _Rochel_, and in a Month after our Voluntiers, who went on board the _Victoire_, took their Departure for _Martineco_ and _Guadalupe_; they met with nothing in their Voyage thither worth noting.