Privateering and Piracy in the Colonial Period Part 79

6ly. To this Interrogatory can say Nothing.

7ly. That said Spanish Schooner after the Transaction aforesaid did Return to the Havana, where he this Deponent was informed by some Frenchmen that had been taken by said Rd. Haddon since this Deponent, that sd Haddon had proceeded in said Private Vessel of War to Sta.

Lucea[16] on the Island of Jamaica, whereupon this Deponent determined to go there in Quest of him in order to procure Satisfaction for the Injury he had Received from him. That shortly after the Arrival of this Deponent at the Havana, an English Man of War came into that Port. That He this Deponent made Application to the Capn. for his Advice and a.s.sistance, who thereupon gave him a Certificate to the Governour and the Admiral Stationed at Jamaica. That this Deponent thereupon proceeded to Santa Lucea but said Rd. Haddon was sailed from thence before this Deponent arrived there. That said Haddon was at Santa Lucea fifteen Days as this Deponent was Informed. That he there met with the two aforesaid Englishmen, that this Depont. had taken Pa.s.sengers in his Schooner, but were carryed away by said Richd.

Haddon. That this Deponent proceeded afterward with said Spanish Schooner to Kingston on Jamaica and there made his Complaints to the Governor and Admiral against Rd. Haddon.[17] That the said two Englishmen who had been Pa.s.sengers in said Spanish Schooner, did make Oath before the Governor of Jamaica of the Transactions of said Rd.

Haddon his Officers and People. That the Exhibits now Shewn him marked A No 1 and No 2 are the Affidavits lay'd before the Governor of Jamaica in support of the Truth of the Complaints made by him this Deponent against said Rd. Haddon, his Officers and People which this Deponent brought with him from Jamaica to New York. That the Name Subscribed to the Affidavit in the Exhibit marked A No 1 is his own Hand Writing and attested as Expressed in said Instrument of Writing.

That said Henry Myerhoffer did Subscribe his Name to the Affidavit and that he knows that to be his Hand Writing in the Exhibit marked A No 2, and that he attested the same in manner therein Expressed. That Admiral Townsend in pursuance of the said Complaint and proofs Dispatched a small Man of War under his Command in pursute of said Richd. Haddon in order to bring said Schooner _Peggy_ into Port Royal[18] on the Island of Jamaica aforesaid.

[Footnote 16: Now Lucea, at the northwest corner of the island.]

[Footnote 17: Henry Moore, lieutenant governor, was acting as governor. The preceding governor, Vice-Adm. Charles Knowles, had lately removed the seat of government from Spanish Town to Kingston.]

[Footnote 18: Port Royal, on the south side of Kingston harbor, was the first capital of the island; but probably Ybanez means the harbor.]

8ly. That this Deponent did afterward Return to The Havana and Arrived there on or about the 16 May 1757. That said Admiral Townsend did afterward arrive at the Havana and Advised this Deponent to proceed to New York not doubting but he would receive Satisfaction for the Injury done him by said Rd. Haddon his Officers and Crew belonging to said Schooner _Peggy_ and that in Case he should not Receive the Satisfaction he Expected, then to proceed with the Affidavits to London to demand it there. That said Admiral being then in the Havana gave him a Letter to the Gover'r of New York Recommending to him to procure Justice to be done to this Deponent.

9ly. Does not belong to this Deponent to Ansr.

Lastly, He says that he knows of nothing further Necessary to or Concerning these Interrogatories.

PHELIPE YBAnES.

Examined the 2d of September Anno Dom 1758.

(a.s.sisted by Garrat Noel Sworn Spanish Interpreter) RICH'D NICHOLLS, Regr.[19]

[Footnote 19: The doc.u.ment is endorsed as filed Sept. 2.]

_188. Libel of Felipe Ybanez. September 27, 1758._

Province of New York } To the Honourable Lewis Court of Vice Admiralty } Morris Esqr. Commissary and judge of the Court of Vice Admiralty for the Province of New York.

The Lybel and Claim of Philip y Banes otherwise called Philip Vanes, otherwise called Philip de Francis,

Humbly Sheweth,

That he the said Philip is a Native of St. Lucar in the Dominions of Spain and a subject of his Catholick Majesty, and an Inhabitant of the Havannah in the Dominions of his said Catholick Majesty, and that he the said Philipe was at the Time of the Capture herein after mentioned Master and sole Owner of a certain Spanish Schooner called _La Virgin del Rosario y el Sancto Christo de buen Voyage_: That being on a Voyage from Trinidada, and having a Pa.s.sport for Mansennello he went to the Havannah leaving his said Schooner at a Landing Place about eight Leagues distant from thence called Vanes[1] and there in Pursuance of a Proposal which had been for that Purpose made to him before he had left Trinidada aforesaid on the 10th of November one Thousand seven hundred and fifty six entered into a written Agreement with Caleb Davis[2] of the English Nation and Transiently in that City, the Purport of which Agreement was that he should carry in his said Schooner one Henry Myerhoeffer and one Wm. Abbot an Englishman to Port Royal on the Island of Jamaica carrying with them certain Papers and Letters relating to an Affair with which he the said Davis was charged in Virtue of an Order from his Sovereign the King of Great Britain, who were to remit to him the said Caleb certain Merchandize which he had given them Orders to send on his Account and Risque for the Supply of his urgent Necessities which when complyed with he obliged himself to pay to the said Philip the sum of one thousand Dollars without Delay, as by the said Agreement ready to be produced may appear; That after his having made the said Agreement, his said schooner being at the said Landing Place called Vane's he took on Board the said Schooner the said Henry Myerhoffer and Wm. Abbot and their Letters and Papers and Eight other Persons, all subjects of his Catholick Majesty, who engaged to go as Pa.s.sengers in the said Schooner to the said Island of Jamaica. And the said Philip further saith that he had also on Board his said Schooner one Mate or Pilot and six Marriners to navigate the said Schooner who were all likewise Subjects of his said Catholick Majesty and among other Goods had on board the said Schooner several Bags of Money which contained In silver to the Amount of six Thousand nine hundred and seventy five mill'd Dollars, and in Gold the Value of six hundred and sixteen mill'd Pieces of Eight and divers Gold Rings and other Trinkets to the Value of two hundred and eighty mill'd Pieces of Eight, six Pateraroes[3] of the Value of sixteen Pounds, a Parcel of Gun Powder containing in quant.i.ty about fifty Pounds of the Value of Eight Pounds, one Bag of Indigo containing in quant.i.ty about one hundred and fifty Pounds of the Value of sixty Pounds, and a Chest of Sweetmeats which cost in the Havannah forty Dollars of the value of sixteen pounds, fourteen Spanish Machets[4] of the Value of twenty two Pounds eight Shillings, one Pistol of the value of one pound five shillings, thirty swivel shot of the Value of fifteen shillings, all New York money, together with sundry other Goods mentioned in a Lybel filed in this Court by the said Richard Haddon hereinafter mentioned, all which were the Property of him the said Philip Y'Banes and others the Subjects of the King of Spain in Amity and Friendship with the King of Great Britain; That he the said Philipe afterwards being in the Course of his Voyage to the Island of Jamaica aforesaid on the high Seas and within the jurisdiction of this Court about ten Leagues to the Southward of the Island of Pines, on or about the sixth day of December which was in the year of our Lord one Thousand seven hundred and fifty six, he the said Philip was attacked and set upon in his said Schooner by one Richard Haddon, Commander of a Schooner called the _Peggy_ being a private Vessel of War from this Port of New York; That he the said Richard Haddon having fired a Gun against the said Spanish Schooner and brought her to, sent the Boat of the said Privateer on Board the said Spanish Schooner, manned and armed, together with one officer of him the said Richard Haddon which the said Philip took to be his first Lieutenant, and others of the Crew of the said Privateer _Peggy_, who searched into and Examined the sd Spanish Vessel where they found all the money and Goods aforesaid, all which by the said Officer and Crew were taken out of the said Spanish Schooner and carried on Board the said Privateer the _Peggy_, commanded by the said Richard Haddon; That he the said Philip Y Banes was then and there in a forcible manner taken out of the said Spanish Schooner by the said Lieutenant and Crew of the said Privateer the _Peggy_ or some of them and carried on Board the said Privateer, where the said Philip Y: Banes was searched from Head to Foot by the said Richard Haddon, the said Lieutenant or officer and others of the Crew belonging to the said Privateer by the Orders of the said Richard Haddon, and he the said Philip was then and there unlawfully stripped by the said Richard Haddon and others of his Crew of the Value of Two Hundred and twelve Dollars in Gold which he the sd. Philip had concealed in his Breeches; That he the said Philip did then and there shew to him the said Richard Haddon his Pa.s.sport and other papers and Doc.u.ments evincing Spanish Property in his said Schooner and Cargo, and the Intent of his present voyage, and did insist and declare to him the said Richard Haddon that his sd. Vessel and all the Money, Goods and Effects that he had on Board wch. had been so seized and taken as aforesaid were the Property of himself and others the subjects of his said Catholick Majesty and did belong to no other Person or Persons whosoever, and did request and intreat him the said Richard Haddon to restore to him the said Philip the said Money, Goods and Effects, or to bring him into this port of New York that he might have an Oppertunity of making his Claim and proving his property to and in the monies Goods and Effects so taken from him the said Philip by him the said Richard, his Officers and Crew as aforesaid, But the said Richard Haddon did altogether refuse to restore the same to the said Philip or to permit or Suffer him the said Philipe or any of his Officers or People to come with him in the said Schooner _Peggy_ to this Port of New York; That the said Philip did then desire the said Richard to give him a Receipt or Certificate of the money, Goods and Effects which had been so seized and taken from him as aforesaid, that he might satisfy all parties concerned in the same Money, Goods and Effects of the manner How he had been deprived of the same; That the said Richard did then Deliver to the said Philip a Writing which he said did Contain such Receipt or Certificate, But afterwards the first Lieutenant of him the said Richard did require and Insist that he the said Philipe should redeliver the same to him; That the said Philip refused to redeliver the said writing and thereupon the said first Lieutenant lifting up his Fist threatned to knock him down if he resisted, and with his Other Hand took the said Certificate thus forcibly and Violently out of said Philips Pocket where he had endeavored to secure the same, And the said Philip further sheweth that the said Richard did also take from on board the said Schooner the said Henry Myerhoffer and William Abbot, his said two Pa.s.sengers, And also his pa.s.sport and other papers shewn to him the said Richard to the purpose aforesaid, and after giving the said Philip very threating and abusive Language did then and there send the said Philip, despoiled and deprived of his money, Goods and Effects, pa.s.sport and other papers aforesaid, on Board his said Spanish Schooner; That the said Richard Haddon did afterwards proceed with the said privateer _Peggy_ to Lucea on the Island of Jamaica and there careened and fitted her for the sea and during the time he say[5]

there kept the said Henry Myerhoffer and William Abbot closely confin'd in order to prevent their discovering or Complaining of this Treatment he the said Philip had received from the said Richard Haddon, his Officers and Crew as aforesaid. And when and not before the said privateer had Hoisted sail to Leave Lucea aforesaid the said Henry Myerhoffer and William Abbot were set at Liberty, and the said Privateer proceeded to sea. And the said Philip further Sheweth that He the said Richard Haddon in the said Privateer Did afterwards Arrive at this port of New York And that the said Richard Haddon did afterwards on or about the ninth Day of March in the Year of our Lord one Thousand Seven hundred and fifty six[6] by his Lybel filed in this Court claim Part of the Money, Goods, and Effects which had been taken from him the said Philip in Manner aforesaid, viz. Ten Doubloons, five Thousand seven hundred and sixty four Dollars, one Hundred and five Pistreens and some small Silver, as also one Bracelet, twenty gold Rings, some Silver Buckles, six swivel Guns, some Shot, one Cask of Powder, some Cutla.s.ses and one Bag of Indigo, as being the Property of the Subjects of the French King and prayed that the same might by the Sentence of this Court be adjudged and condemned as Lawfull Prize to him the said Richard Haddon and the Owners and Company of the said Privateer _Peggy_, as by the said Lybel filed in this Court, Reference being hereunto had, may more fully appear; That the said Philip not having any Pilot or Person on Board his said Vessel who was acquainted with the Navigation on this Coast was all together deprived of the Means and Opportunity of making his Claim and Defence to the said Lybel; That immediately after the said Seizure he returned with said Spanish Schooner to the Havannah, and complained there, of the said abuse that he had received from the sd.

Richard Haddon and his Officers and Company. That the Governour of the Havannah[7] hearing thereof highly resented the same (and as the said Philip has been informed and hopes to prove) wrote to his Excellency Sr. Charles Hardy, then Governour of this Province,[8] upon the Matter of his said Complaint, demanding Redress, And that at that Time there being a British Man of War lying in that Port the Said Philip also made the like Complaint to the Commander of the said Ship who advised the said Philip immediately to repair with his Schooner to Jamaica and make his Case known to the Government there and Particularly to Admiral Townshend who was upon that Station, That upon proper Representations being made, Justice might be obtained and Reparation procured to the said Philip by Means and a.s.sistance of the British Government; That accordingly the said Philip proceeded to Jamaica and arrived there on or about the Beginning of March one Thousand seven hundred and fifty seven and applied to Admiral Townsend and made his Affidavit of the Treatment and Usage that he had received from the said Richard Haddon and the said Officers and Crew of the said Privateer _Peggy_ before a proper Officer there, and also finding the said Henry Myerhoffer in that Island he procured his Affidavit to be taken of the like matter, both which affidavits properly certified under the Seal of the said Island are filed with the Register of this Court and to which the said Philip for greater Certainty doth refer; That his Majesty the King of Great Britain, being informed of the Premises by Affidavits concerning the same, transmitted by Admiral Townsend, did by a Letter from the Right Honourable the Earl of Holdernesse his Secretary of State to the Governour of this Province, Dated at Whitehall the twentieth Day of May one Thousand seven hundred and fifty seven,[9] express the deepest resentment of the said Injury done to the said Philip by the said Richard Haddon and the officers and Crew belonging to the said private Vessel of War, as being contrary to all Humanity and Good Faith and the General Instructions Given to Privateers, And did require and demand that Justice might be done within this his Government to the Subjects of his Catholick Majesty relating to the Premises, as by the said Letter filed in the Minutes of his Majesty's Council for this Province of New York[10] and an attested Copy thereof filed with the Register of this Court, to which the said Philip doth refer, may more fully and at large appear.

And the said Philip further sheweth That during these Transactions in the West Indies and in Great Britain he the said Richard Haddon prosecuted his said Lybel in this Court and to give the better Colour to his Pretensions that the Money, Goods and Effects before mentioned were French Property did on the thirty first of March one Thousand seven hundred and fifty seven procure Some Person calling himself Francisco Raphe to be examined before the Register of this Court[11]

on the Part of him the said Richard Haddon against the Money, Goods and Effects mentioned in his said Lybel, wherein the said Francisco Raphe deposes among other Things that he is a Native of Sierra in Greece and Subject of the Grand Turk, by Occupation a Marriner, That two Days after the Vessel, he was on Board of, sailed out of Cuba they were taken by Captain Haddon which was about December then last, That he did not know the Vessel's Name of which he was on Board for She had no regular Commander nor Dispatches or Papers of any Kind from any Port or Place whatsoever, and he believes that had such Vessel been taken by any vessel of any Nation She would have been a lawfull Prize And had She been taken by a Spanish Guarda Costa, the whole Ship's Crew would have been hanged as Pirates, That there were on Board, of all Nations allmost, as Genoesse, French and others, in Number twenty two, and that one of the Chiefs in particular was a French man, Subject of the French King, That he absolutely, from all the Knowledge he can form, thinks her to be a just and lawfull Prize; And he the said Philip further sheweth that he is advised that the said Deposition is of a very extraordinary Nature, and made by one who supposed himself to have been a Pyrate; That by Reason of its great Incertainty it can have no legal Application either to him the said Philip or his Schooner; that the Vessel on which the said Francisco Raphe was on Board was a Ship of the Crew Whereof he was one; That the said Schooner of the said Philip had a regular Commander and proper Dispatches and Papers from Trindada a Spanish Port; That not one French Man or Genoe was on Board the said Schooner nor any one Marriner or pa.s.senger Except the said Henry Myerhoffer and William Abbot that was not a Subject of Spain; And the said Philip further sheweth That he is an entire Stranger to the said Francisco Raphe, That he knows no Person of that Name, and is very certain that no such person was either a Seamen or Pa.s.senger on Board the said Schooner in the Voyage before mentioned, and the said Philip is informed that no Witness whatsoever was produced in this Court to Prove the Money, Goods and Effects mentioned in the said Lybel of the said Richd.

Haddon to be French Property but the said Francisco Raphe, and that by the Minutes of this Court it will appear that on the very Day the said Examination was taken Publication was ordered to pa.s.s and the Cause to be immediately heard, and thereupon the Proctor for the said Richard Haddon opened the Lybel and Proceedings, and the Deposition of the said Francisco Raphe being read this Court having considered of the same did adjudge, Sentence and decree the said Money, Goods and Effects in the said Lybel mentioned as lawfull Prize for the use of the Captors, pursuant to the Statute in that Case made and _provided_ that no just and rightful Claim be made for the same by any Other Person or Persons within a year and a Day, and ordered that the Lybellant stipulate with Security to the Register of this Court in the Amount of the said Gold, Silver and other Things to bring the said Amount into this Court when this Court should order the same within a year and a Day aforesaid, To which Minute of this Court the said Philip doth refer, And the sd. Philip further sheweth That at a Court of Vice Admiralty held at the City of New York on the twenty-sixth Day of July then next following, pursuant to the order of this Court of the thirty first Day of March then last past, the Accounts of Sales of the said Gold, Silver and other Things lybelled as aforesaid were brought into this Court and filed,[12] And that thereupon Jasper Farmer and Thomas Miller of the City of New York, Merchants, appeared in this Court and freely and voluntarily submitted to the jurisdiction thereof And severally stipulated to the Register of this Court in the Sum of Two Thousand four Hundred and nine Pounds, four Shillings and eleven Pence three Farthings, said to be the Amount of the said Gold, Silver etc. on Condition to bring the said Money into this Court when this Court should order the same at any Time within a year and a Day from the said thirty first Day of March then last past, as by the said Orders and Proceedings of this Court to which the said Philip doth refer, Relation being thereunto had, may appear. And the said Philip further sheweth that by the said Letter of the Right Honourable the Earl of Holdernesse before mentioned and above referred to, his Majesty The King of Great Britain did Command Prosecutions to be immediately commenced for the Recovery of what should appear to be so plundered from the said Philip and others the Subjects of the King of Spain or the full Value thereof, with all Costs and Damages occasioned by the premises; That his said Majesty's Advocate General for this Province of New York, in obedience to his Majesty's Pleasure so signified and the express Order and Direction of his Honour the Lieutenant Governour of this Province and Commander in Chief then being (having received Information of the said Orders and Proceedings of this Court) to prevent any Prejudice to the Subjects of the said King of Spain, in consequence of the same did on the seventeenth Day of February last past, in the Name and Behalf of his said Majesty the King of Great Britain, for the Use and Benefit of the said Philip and other Subjects of the King of Spain, enter and file his Claim to the Money and Goods first above mentioned, which had been with Force and Violence taken from him the sd. Philip, declaring it to be intended therein to include all the Particulars that had been before libelled by the said Richard Haddon and other Goods that had not been so lybelled, but had been taken and seized by the said Richard Haddon in Manner as aforesaid, together with the Interest, Damages and Costs which had accrued by Reason of the Premises; That afterwards the said Advocate General on the tenth of March last in Obedience to the Orders aforesaid did file his Claim more at large In this Court and among other Things therein contained prayed that this Court would order and decree that the said Monies, Goods and Chattels in the said Lybel of the said Richard Haddon mentioned might by the Order of this Court be brought into this Court according to the Stipulation aforesaid, as by the said Claim filed with the Register of this Court, to which the said Philip doth refer, may more fully and at large appear.

Whereupon, on the said tenth Day of March, it was ordered by this Court that the Securities of the said Richard Haddon do bring into this Court the said Sum of two Thousand four Hundred and nine Pounds, four Shillings and Eleven Pence three Farthings, being the Amount of their Stipulations aforesaid, on or before that day Week or Shew Cause to the contrary; That on the seventeenth Day of March last the said Jasper Farmer and Thomas Miller appeared in this Court by their Proctor But did not bring into this Court the said Sum last mentioned and had Time till the fifth Day of April following to shew Cause why they had not done it, on which Day they filed their Demurrer to the said Claim of the said Advocate General, alledging for Cause of Demurrer that it appeared by the said Claim that the Scope and End thereof was to relieve the said Philip y: Banes, a Spaniard, claiming the Money and Effects formerly Lybelled in this Court by Richard Haddon in Behalf of himself and the Owners and Company of the Schooner _Peggy_, as French Property, against the Sentence and Decree of this Court, to all which several Matters and other Things in the said Claim contained the said Defendants did demur.

[Footnote 1: Cabanas.]

[Footnote 2: Caleb Davis had lived at St. Augustine as a trader for several years prior to 1738, had made himself wealthy when, in 1739, he proposed to settle in Savannah, and was a shrewd, cunning fellow, so says Secretary William Stephens in his journal; _Col. Rec. Ga._, IV. 64, 247, 309. Oglethorpe commissioned him as a privateer, in 1739, but later arrested him for sending two Spanish prisoners in to St.

Augustine; _ibid._, IV. 422, 467, 483, 511, 623, and Harris, _Oglethorpe_, p. 215. Egmont mentions him as "Captain Davies, of suspected character"; _Col. Rec. Ga._, V. 139. In the next war he was a very successful privateer; _ibid._, XXV. 42, 251. In 1751 and 1752 he commanded Oglethorpe's princ.i.p.al vessel of war; _Acts of the Privy Council, Colonial_, IV. 128, 130, 170, 287, VI. 322.]

[Footnote 3: Pedereros, small pieces of ordnance used for throwing stones, etc.]

[Footnote 4: Machetes.]

[Footnote 5: Error for stayed.]

[Footnote 6: Error for 1757.]

[Footnote 7: Don Francisco Cagigal de la Vega, captain-general of Cuba; see doc. no. 189.]

[Footnote 8: Governor of New York from Sept., 1755, to June, 1757.]

[Footnote 9: Printed in _N.C. Col. Rec._, V. 756.]

[Footnote 10: _Calendar of Council Minutes_, p. 434.]

[Footnote 11: See doc. no. 185.]

[Footnote 12: Doc. no. 186.]

For That, by the Claim it appears that his said Majesty the King of Great Britain ought not to recover the Money, Goods and Effects in the Claim mentioned, they being expressly therein declared to be the Property of a Spanish Subject, and not the Property of his said Majesty the King of Great Britain, And for that his said Majesty ought not by Law to sue for himself and a Subject in that Suit, And for [that] a Decree in that Suit would be no Barr to a new Suit brought in the Name of his Majesty on the Stipulation for the good Behaviour of the said Richard Haddon, And for that by Law no Subject is to answer to the King, for an Injury done to another Subject, but by a Criminal Prosecution, And for that a Decree upon that Claim would be no Barr to, nor could it prevent the said Philip Y: Banes from filing his Claim in his own Name, And for that divers Persons are made Parties to that Claim that ought not to be joined together, as by the said Demurrer filed with the Register of this Court to which the said Philip doth refer may more at large appear. And the said Philip further sheweth that he hath not hitherto obtained any recompense or satisfaction for the Injury aforesaid.

Wherefore he the said Philip for the Reasons aforesaid and for the several Matters and Causes offered and insisted on in this his Libel doth Humbly Claim the said Two Thousand four Hundred and nine Pounds, four Shillings and Eleven Pence three Farthings, secured to be paid into this Court by the Stipulation aforesaid, together also with all and every the other Monies, Goods and Effects so seized and taken from him by the said Richard Haddon as aforesaid and not mentioned in the Lybel of him the said Richard, and all Damages, Losses and Expenses by him the said Philip in any wise sustained by Reason of the Premises And Humbly prays the Advis.e.m.e.nt of this Court in the Premises and the due Process of the Law against the said Two Thousand four Hundred and nine Pounds, four Shillings and eleven Pence three Farthings, secured to be paid into this Court by the Stipulation aforesaid, and all and every other such due Process as by the Law ought to issue and be granted against all and every Person and Persons who is, are or may be liable and Chargeable for the same and for all and every other the Monies, Goods and Effects so seized and taken from Him the said Philip as aforesaid and for his Losses and Damages and Expenses aforesaid, and such full and ample Relief and Satisfaction touching the Premises as, by the Law of Nations, the particular Laws and Statutes of Great Britain, and the Custom and Usage of this Court, is due in cases of this Nature to the Subjects of his Catholick Majesty the King of Spain being in Amity with his Majesty the King of Great Britain.

WM. SMITH Junior,[13] Adv'te for the Libellant.

JAS. DUANE,[14]

Advocate for the Libellant

[Footnote 13: William Smith, jr. (1728-1793), the historian of New York, afterward chief-justice of New York and, in his last years, of Canada.]

[Footnote 14: James Duane (1733-1797), a prominent member of the Continental Congress from 1774 to 1784.]

_189. Certificate of Captain-General Cagigal. November 4, 1758._

Don Francisco Cavigal[1] de la Vega, Knight of the Order of St. James, Field Marshall, Governour and Captain General of the Havana and Island of Cuba etc. _Whereas_ I am Informed that Don Philipe Y Banes, Captain and Administrator of the Schooner Called _our Lady of the Rosary and Holy Christ_, And Ma.r.s.eleno Marrero,[2] Are now in the City of New York, Dominions of his Majesty the King of Great Brittain, in Order to Recover 7871 Dollars which in silver, Doubloons, and Gold Trinckets were by force taken from them on the 6th December 1756, by Capt.

Haddon of the Privateer Schooner _Peggy_, from New York, a small distance from Pine Island on the south side of this Navigation, and having been Informed by Letters from the aforesaid that they are hindered in prosecuting for their Right by the Owners of said privateer Schooner pretending that they were Pirates at the time of the Robbery, and in Attention that the Contrary has been Clearly proved by their Sailing with a Spanish Crew and under Spanish Colours and with Leave from my Lieutenant Governour Don Francisco Guitierres in the City of Trinity to proceed to the anchoring place of Mansanillo in the Jurisdiction of Valamo,[3] And After the Robbery they arrived on this Coast at Porte Bane[4] where they took in Necessarys and with my Licence they Sailed to Jamaica in search of said privateer and presenting themselves before his Excellency the Governour Declared the Robbery upon Oath, as did Likewise Henry Myeroffer and William Abbot, two Englishmen who were on Board Said Don Philipe's Schooner at the time the Robbery was Committed, and were afterwards taken and put by said English Captain on Board his privateer, who Carried them to St.

Lucia on the Island of Jamaica, as appears from the Instruments that said Don Philipe Shewed me on his Return, _And Whereas_ Considering the Great Prejudice that has Resulted from their being out of their Native Country and knowing that they are Inhabitants of this City and Subjects to the King of Spain and have not Incurred the Penalty of Pirates, In their behalf and for myself I pray and Recommend to his Excellency the Captain General and Governour and the Judge of the Admiralty of New York that they will be pleased to Order to be Delivered the said Money to the said Spaniards, inasmuch as I am ready to Observe Equal Justice in the Like Case, And in Case they Should meet with any Difficulty in the Recovery of their Right, I do by Virtue of this Grant them a pa.s.sport and Leave to follow their Recourse to the Court of London and Appeal to his Brittanic Majesty till the Ultimate Resolution of his Royal Clemency; to this End I have perused the foregoing and do Sign and Order the Royal Signet to be Affixed to the same and Authorized by the present Notary to the Government. Given in the Havannah the fourth of November 1758.

[Footnote 1: For Cagigal. Don Francisco Cagigal de la Vega (1693-1777), who had been governor of Santiago de Cuba from 1738 to 1747, and had defended it successfully against the English in 1741, was captain-general of Cuba from 1747 to 1760, when he became viceroy of New Spain.]

[Footnote 2: In the same set of papers there is a deposition of Marcelino Marero, born in the Canary Islands, forty-three years old, almost identical in contents with that of Ybanez, doc. no. 187, and of the same date.]

[Footnote 3: Bayamo.]

[Footnote 4: Cabanas.]

Before me DIEGO DE GUITIERRES Notary to the Governour