Privateering and Piracy in the Colonial Period Part 53

_142. Certificate of British-Dutch Vice-Consul in Teneriffe. April 26, 1740 (N.S.)._

I Certify and avouch to all Gent. whom these Present may concern, That Don Peter Dufourd, Vice-Consul General for the French and Britannick Nations,[1] Appeared before Me, as also Don John Delake, John Whitefield and Don Issario Antonio Samer, Merch'ts residing in this Port, who say that the Sloop called the _Amsterdam Packett_, whereof Capt. Aeneas Mackay is Commander, has usually come to this Port; and that the said Sloop arrived here under Dutch [Colours] the 27 of October the year last past, 1739, and that the said Sloop sailed again for Amsterdam, consigned to the Divernetts, and that the said Sloop wore Dutch Colours, during the time she lay at anchor in this Road, and that said Sloop Sailed and Returned on her Voyage out of this Port under Dutch Colours; and that the said aeneas Mackay brought with him his Dutch Clearance and Pa.s.sport, and that he the said Mackay is a Resident and Dweller in Amsterdam; and that the Cargo which he had brought and now did bring, did actually belong to Merch'ts in Holland Corresponding with the aforementioned Divernetts herein expressed, and that the aforesaid Don Peter Dufourd, as Vice-Consul General, did pa.s.s the Usual Visit of Health in the aforegoing Voyage; and that he[2]

brought his Dutch Journal, which was set down in his Book as a Dutchman, and for this purpose he[3] holds his Vice-Consulship as well as being Employed Vice-Consul for the Dutch; and further saith that he the said Dufourd had been in Company with Isaac Divernett in the House of Don Arnold Vansteinfortt,[4] Consul General for the Dutch in these Islands, when the said aeneas Mackay shewed him his Papers, as he was Consul for that Nation, Manifesting his being Naturalized in Amsterdam, and for this reason he brought a Dutch Pa.s.sport and Wore Dutch Colours; the Truth of which he declares before G.o.d, no person being able to say to the contrary, it being a Publick and known Truth, of what has been Declared, Signed by these Presents with the aforesd Vice Consul Gen'l and the afore mentioned Merch'ts of this Port of Santa Crux of Teneriffe, the 26th Day of April 1740. PETER DUFOURD, Vice Consul General, JOHN WHITEFIELD, ISSARIO ANTONIO SAMER, JOHN DELAKE, JOSEPH VRANES [Vianes][5] of Salas, Publick Scrivener.

[Footnote 1: And also for the Dutch Republic; see below. George Glas, in the "Description of the Canary Islands" appended to his translation of Juan Abreu de Galindo, _History of the Discovery and Conquest of the Canary Islands_ (London, 1764), says that the British and Dutch consuls were the only Protestants allowed to dwell in the islands.

Santa Cruz was the centre for the foreign trade, and the governor resided there, on Teneriffe, though the bishop and the courts were at Palmas, on the Grand Canary.]

[Footnote 2: Mackay.]

[Footnote 3: Dusourd.]

[Footnote 4: See doc. no. 165, note 11.]

[Footnote 5: See _ibid._]

Compared with the Original before Me which is in my Power and office, and this I remit as a true Copy, the Day and Year aforementioned. In Testimony of the Truth,

JOSEPH VRANES of Salas, Publick Scrivener.

We do Declare and Avouch that Joseph Vranes, who has attested this Copy, is Publick Scrivener, and that full Faith is and ought to be given to all his Instruments of Writing and Dispatches, both here and abroad. Wherefore We have Signed this in Santa Crux of Teneriffe, the 29th of April, 1740.

JOSEPH PADILLA, JOSEPH ANTONIO SANCHES. Apostollick Notary.

FRANCISCO DELGADA.

_143. Sentence of Admiralty Judge. September 1, 1740._[1]

[Footnote 1: Court proceedings here resumed, after insertion of doc.u.ments in the record.]

Capt. Dixon, who Translated the Several Spanish Papers aforewritten, made Oath in Court that he had Translated them according to the best of his Skill and Judgment.

The Court was then Adjourn'd to the 25th Curr't at 8 a Clock A.M., at which Time it was Opened and both Parties fully heard by their advocates, after which the Court was Adjourn'd to the Thirtieth Curr't at 10 a Clock a.m., at which Time the Judge Decreed the Vessell and Cargo a Lawfull Prize, and on the first of September following delivered his Reasons for Adjudication in Open Court, which is as follows, viz.

I have duly Considered the Preparatory Examinations and all the Papers and Writings which were Sworn to be found and taken in and with the Capture (a Mediterranean Pa.s.s excepted) and also the Depositions given in Open Court, and likewise with great Deliberation weighed the Arguments of the Advocates, as well on the part of the Captor as on the part of the Claimant, and it appears to Me that the Sloop Libelled against was a British Bottom, Navigated by British Subjects, and that the Master thereof, aeneas Mackay, on the 11th of July, 1738, had Granted to him for said Sloop by the Right Hono'ble the Lords Commissioners for Executing the Office of Lord High Admiral of Great Britain a Mediterranean Pa.s.s No. 2533, which was found on board the said Sloop at the Time of the Capture. It also appears to Me that the said Master, on the 16th Septr., 1739, by the Name of aeneas Mackay of London, Captain, took the usual Oath of a Porter of the City of Amsterdam; that on the 22d of said Month the said Master before the Magistrates and Rulers of that City made oath that the Vessell aforesd., of which he was then Master, belonged to a House in that Province and afterwards the said Vessell in Holland as to her Clearing, Pa.s.sport, Visiting, Taxing, etc., was Treated as a Dutch Bottom; that on the 2d of Octobr. following the said Master hired a Chamber in Amsterdam _for one year_, But in case no one appeared in October following then it should be in the power of the Lessor to Lett the same to another, and he Enter'd the Day following, and shortly after sailed in said Vessell to Teneriffe, from whence in a few Days he and his hands, British Subjects, and after the Proclamation of War, with Two Pa.s.ses, viz. the said Mediterranean Pa.s.s and a Dutch Pa.s.s, sailed to Cork in the Kingdom of Ireland, having a Great quant.i.ty of Money, as appears by his Journal; there he purchases a Loading, Chiefly Provisions, Clears out for the Maderas, and accordingly had one Sett of Bills of Lading for that Port, to be delivered to William Callanach or to his a.s.signs, who to Me appears to be a fict.i.tious Person, and one other Sett of Bills of Lading for said Cargo to be Deliverd at the Port of C----[2] unto Divernett Freres, who plainly appeard to me then to be two Merch'ts Settled Inhabit'ts at Teneriffe, one of them since dead, the other there still Inhabiting; that on the 15th of January, 1739, the said Vessell was taken, as set forth in the Libel, with the said Papers and the Books of Acco'ts of the said Master, and by which acco'ts it turns out to my Satisfaction if those two Brothers the Devernets were not solely Owners they were Princ.i.p.ally so. It further appears that the reason a.s.signed by the Master, when taken, of being so near Teneriffe and setting in for that Port was for Water, when in Truth it's in Proof they were Letting out their Water Secretly, and after Stopt by the Captors there was Water for one hand more than the Crew belonging to the Sloop for three Weeks, which carried them into Madera, and if the Say of some of the Sailors is to be Credited they were Shipped at Corke for Teneriffe; and all this to Demonstration Shews which of those two Setts of Bills of Lading must be understood to be Real. It also appears in Proof, certifyed under the hand of the British Consul at Madera (whose name thereto subscrib'd is owned by the Claimant to be of his proper handwriting), that the said Cargo was there by force Unloaded, by Means Whereof not brought with the Vessell to this Port, So that in fine here is a British Master endeavouring to Commence Dutchman, a British Vessell with two Pa.s.ses, British and Dutch, and to be occasionally[3] either a British or Dutch Bottom Navigated by British Subjects in time of War with Spain, Sails from Teneriffe with Money to Cork in Ireland, there purchases a Cargo of Provisions bound directly back to our Enemies, makes a false Clearance as if bound to Madera, has two Setts of Bill of Lading, the One which is Real to Deliver the Cargo at a Port part of the Dominions of a Prince in Enmity with us, and to Persons there Inhabiting who appear to be altogether or Princ.i.p.ally owners, Carrying the King's Subjects to Enemies, whereby they by Menaces or Corruption or both may be drawn from their Allegiance, and happily is thus taken, and to have it a Question whether it's a Lawfull Capture or not is somewhat Extraordinary, for my part till I am better Informed from Home I shall never Ballance in Cases so Wickedly Contrived and contrary to the Conduct of plain Trading and Simple Honesty, But in Justice to my King and Country always Condemn, and if this Mackay was in Court, notwithstanding all his Subtlety and Double Dealing and his pretended Naturalization Certifyed from Teneriffe, as in the Case, I should order him in Custody till delivered up to the Government. Therefore on the whole I Adjudge and Condemn the Vessell and Cargo Libelled against as a Lawfull Prize, Entirely to belong to and be Divided between and among the Owners of the Sloop that Seized and Took her as aforesaid, and the several Persons which were on Board the same, in such Shares and Proportions as were agreed on with the Owners aforesd. and the persons thus ent.i.tuled thereto by virtue of such agreement among themselves.

And as to the Objection that the Cargo is not brought in the Vessell, the Manner of it's being forced from the Captor is Certified, and that this Court may notwithstanding proceed to Condemnation is not only the practice of the Court, but so known in the Kings Court, as in the Cases the King v. Broom, Brown and Burton v. Francklyn.[4]

ROB'T. AUCHMUTY, Judge Ad'y.

Examd per JOHN PAYNE, D.Reg'r.

[Footnote 2: Santa Cruz?]

[Footnote 3: _I.e._, according to occasion.]

[Footnote 4: Rex _vs._ Broom or Brome is in Comberbach's _Reports_ (1724), p. 444 (King's Bench, Trinity term, 9 Will. III.) and, more fully, in Carthew's _Reports_ (1728), p. 398, and 12 _Modern Reports_ 135. Broom, master of a ship of the Royal African Company, captured a French ship off the Guinea coast, sold ship and goods at Barbados, and kept the proceeds. Franklyn, the king's proctor, exhibited a libel against him in the High Court of Admiralty, for embezzlement of the admiralty perquisites belonging to the king. After sentence, Broom moved the King's Bench for a prohibition, to transfer the case to that court, but the prohibition was refused. The case of Brown and Burton _vs._ Franklyn (Hilary term, 10 Will. III.) was similar. Brown and Burton were masters of two ships of the East India Company, who had taken a rich French prize at the island of Johanna (see doc. no. 58, note 3) and taken the goods for themselves and left the ship there, without going to the trouble of having it properly condemned as prize.

The case is reported in Carthew, p. 474.]

THE _REVENGE_.

_144. Commission of Capt. Benjamin Norton as a Privateer. June 2, 1741._[1]

[Footnote 1: Ma.s.sachusetts Historical Society, in a collection of papers, to which several of the subsequent doc.u.ments belong, presented to the society by the late Professor Charles Eliot Norton, great-grandson of Captain Benjamin Norton. This commission, or letter of marque, may be compared with one of 1782 (New York, loyalist), in Anthony Stokes, _View of the Const.i.tution of the British Colonies_, pp. 340-347, and with the Portuguese letter of marque in doc. no. 14.

This Benjamin Norton may have been a son of the one who figures in doc. no. 118.]

Richard Ward Esq Governour and Commander in Chief in and over his Majesty's Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations in New England.

To all Persons, to whom these Presents shall come, Greeting.

Whereas his most Sacred Majesty George the Second by the Grace of G.o.d of Great Britain, France, and Ireland King, Defender of the Faith etc., hath been pleased by his Declaration of the nineteenth Day of October, in the year of our Lord One Thousand seven hundred Thirty and nine, for the Reasons therein contained, to declare War against Spain, And has given Orders for the granting Commissions to any of his loving Subjects, or others that shall be deemed fitly qualified in that Behalf, for the apprehending, seizing and taking the Ships, Vessels and Goods belonging to Spain, or the Va.s.sals and Subjects of the King of Spain, or others inhabiting within any of his Countries, Territories, and Dominions, and such other Ships, Vessels and Goods, as are or shall be liable to Confiscation Pursuant to the respective Treaties between his Majesty and other Princes, States and Potentates, and to bring the same to Judgment in the High Court of Admiralty in England, or such other Court of Admiralty as shall be lawfully authorized for Proceedings and Adjudication, and Condemnation to be thereupon had according to the Course of Admiralty and Laws of Nations,

And Whereas Benjamin Norton Mariner and John Freebody Merchant both of Newport in the Colony aforesd. have equipped, furnished, and victualled a Sloop called the _Revenge_ of the Burthen of about One hundred and Fifteen Tons, whereof the said Benjamin Norton is Commander who hath given Bond with sufficient Sureties,

Know Ye therefore That I do by these Presents, grant Commission to, and do license and authorize the said Benjamin Norton to set forth in Hostile manner the said Sloop called the _Revenge_ under his own Command, And therewith by Force of Arms (for the s.p.a.ce of Twelve months from the Date hereof, If the war shall so long continue) to apprehend, seize and take the Ships, Vessels and Goods belonging to Spain, or the Va.s.sals and Subjects of the King of Spain, or others inhabiting within any of his Countries, Territories or Dominions, and such other Ships, Vessels and Goods, as are or shall be liable to Confiscation Pursuant to the respective Treaties between his Majesty and other Princes, States and Potentates, and to bring the Same to such Port as shall be most convenient, In order to have them legally adjudged in such Court of Admiralty as shall be lawfully authorized within his Majesty's Dominions, which being condemned, It shall and may be lawful for the said Benjamin Norton to sell and dispose of such Ships, Vessels and Goods so adjudged and condemned in such Sort and manner as by the Course of Admiralty hath been accustomed (Except in such Cases where it is otherwise directed by his Instructions[2]) Provided always That the said Benjamin Norton keep an exact Journal of his Proceedings, and therein particularly take notice of all Prizes that shall be taken by Him, the Nature of such Prizes, the Times and Places of their being taken, and the Value of Them as near as He can judge: As also of the Station, Motion and Strength of the enemy, as well as He or his Mariners can discover or find out by Examination of, or Conference with any Mariners or Pa.s.sengers in any Ship or Vessel by Him taken, or by any other Ways or Means whatsoever, touching or concerning the Enemy, or any of their Fleets, Ships, Vessels or Parties, and of what else material in these Cases that may come to his or their Knowledge, of All which He shall from Time to Time as He shall have an Oportunity, transmit and give an Account unto me (or such Commander of any of his Majesty's Ships of War as He shall first meet with). And further Provided that nothing be done by the said Benjamin Norton or any of his officers, mariners and Company contrary to the true meaning of the aforesaid Instructions, But that the said Instructions shall be by Them, as far as They or any of Them are therein concerned, in all Particulars well and duly observed and performed, And I do beseech and request all Kings, Princes, Potentates, Estates and Republicks being his Majesty's Friends and Allies, and all others to whom it shall appertain to give the said Benjamin Norton all Aid, a.s.sistance and Succour in their Ports, with his said Sloop and Company and Prizes without doing, or suffering to be done to Him any Wrong, Trouble or Hindrance, His Majesty offering to do the like, when by Any of Them thereto desired, Requesting likewise of All his Majesty's officers whatsoever to give Him Succour and a.s.sistance as Occasion shall require.

[Footnote 2: See doc. no. 126.]

Given under my Hand, and the Seal of said Colony, at Newport aforesaid the Second Day of June Anno Dm. 1741, and in the Fourteenth year of his said Majesty's Reign.

RICHARD WARD.[3]

[Footnote 3: Governor 1740-1743.]

Sealed with the Seal of said Colony by Order of His Honour the Governour JAS. MARTIN, Secry.

Colony of Rhode Island etc. Newport 6th November 1741

The above and foregoing is a true Copy of the Commission granted Capt.

Benjamin Norton for the Sloop _Revenge_ on a Cruise against the Spaniards etc. as the Same stands recorded in my office in the Book No. 4, Fo. 544 and 545.

Teste JAS. MARTIN, Not. Pub.

_145. Journal of the Sloop Revenge. June 5-October 5, 1741._[1]

[Footnote 1: Ma.s.sachusetts Historical Society. This journal, parts of which were Published by Professor Norton in the _Atlantic Monthly_ for September and October, 1861 (VIII. 353-359, 417-424) was kept by Peter Vezian, captain's quartermaster (there were two quartermasters, one appointed by the captain and one elected by the crew).]

A Journal of all the Transactions on Board the Sloop _Revenge_ Benja.

Norton Com'r by G.o.d's Grace and Under his Protection Bound on a Cruising Voyage against the Spaniards Begun June the 5th, 1741.

_Friday 5th._ This day att 4 AM. the Capt. went from Taylors Wharfe on Board his Sloop, which lay off of Connanicut.[2] at 6 oClock, Capt.

John Freebody[3] Came off in the pinnace with Severall hands. We directly Weighed Anchor with 40 hands, Officers Included, Bound to New York to Gett more hands and a Doctor and some more provisions and other Stores we stood in need off. att 8 Hastings came off in his Boat and brought a hand with [him] John Swan by name to proceed the Voyage, all so Mr. Saml. Freebody went ash.o.r.e in the Ferry boat. att 12 hailed the Sloop from Castle Hill.[4] Capt. Freebody went in the pinnace to him. he delivered him the Register of all his Officers Names which he had forgott. The Wind being Contrary was Obliged to put back again Came to an Anchor under Connanicut att 8 PM.

[Footnote 2: The long island lying just west of Newport, in Narragansett Bay.]