| Attorn. Gen. | An’t please your lordship, and you gentlemen of the jury, here is a fellow before you that is a sad dog, a sad sad dog; and I humbly hope your lordship will order him to be hang’d out of the way immediately. ⸻ He has committed piracy upon the high seas, and we shall prove, an’t please your lordship, that this fellow, this sad dog before you, has escap’d a thousand storms, nay, has got safe ashore when the ship has been cast away, which was a certain sign he was not born to be drown’d; yet not having the fear of hanging before his eyes, he went on robbing and ravishing man, woman and child, plundering ships cargoes fore and aft, burning and sinking ship, bark and boat, as if the devil had been in him. But this is not all, My Lord, he has committed worse villainies than all these, for we shall prove, that he has been guilty of drinking small beer; and your lordship knows, there never was a sober fellow but what was a rogue. ⸻ My Lord, I should have spoke much finer than I do now, but that, as your lordship knows our rum is all out, and how should a man speak good law that has not drank a dram. ⸻ However, I hope, your lordship will order the fellow to be hang’d. |
| Judge | ⸻ Harkee me, sirrah ⸻ you lousy, pittiful, ill-look’d dog; what have you to say why you should not be tuck’d up immediately, and set a sun-drying like a scarecrow? ⸻ Are you guilty, or not guilty? |
| Pris. | Not guilty, an’t please Your Worship. |
| Judge | Not guilty! say so again, sirrah, and I’ll have you hang’d without any trial. |
| Pris. | An’t please Your Worship’s honour, My Lord, I am as honest a poor fellow as ever went between stem and stern of a ship, and can hand, reef, steer, and clap two ends of a rope together, as well as e’er a he that ever cross’d salt water; but I was taken by one George Bradley [the name of him that sat as judge,] a notorious pirate, a sad rogue as ever was unhang’d, and he forc’d me, an’t please your honour. |
| Judge | Answer me, sirrah, ⸻ how will you be try’d? |
| Pris. | By G⸺ and my country. |
| Judge | The devil you will. ⸻ Why then, gentlemen of the jury, I think we have nothing to do but to proceed to judgment. |
| Attor. Gen. | Right, My Lord; for if the fellow should be suffer’d to speak, he may clear himself, and that’s an affront to the court. |
| Pris. | Pray, My Lord, I hope your lordship will consider ⸻ |
| Judge | Consider! ⸻ How dare you talk of considering? ⸻ sirrah, sirrah, I never consider’d in all my life. ⸻ I’ll make it treason to consider. |
| Pris. | But, I hope, your lordship will hear some reason. |
| Judge | D’ye hear how the scoundrel prates? ⸻ What have we to do with reason? ⸻ I’d have you to know, rascal, we don’t sit here to hear reason; ⸻ we go according to law. ⸻ Is our dinner ready? |
| Attor. Gen. | Yes, My Lord. |
| Judge | Then hark’ee, you rascal at the bar; hear me, sirrah, hear me. ⸻ You must suffer, for three reasons; first, because it is not fit I should sit here as judge, and nobody be hang’d. ⸻ Secondly, you must be hang’d, because you have a damn’d hanging look: ⸻ And thirdly, you must be hang’d, because I am hungry; for know, sirrah, that ’tis a custom, that whenever the judge’s dinner is ready before the trial is over, the prisoner is to be hang’d of course.—There’s law for you, ye dog. ⸻ So take him away goaler. |
This is the trial just as it was related to me; the design of my setting it down, is only to show how these fellows can jest upon things, the fear and dread of which, should make them tremble.
The beginning of , the pirates made ready the brigantine, and came out to sea, and beating up to windward, lay in the track for their correspondant in her voyage to Jamaica, and spoke with her; but finding nothing was done in England in their favour, as ’twas expected, they return’d to their consorts at the island with the ill news, and found themselves under a necessity, as they fancied, to continue that abominable course of life they had lately practis’d; in order thereto, they sail’d with the ship and brigantine to the southward, and the next night, by intolerable neglect, they run the Morning Star upon the Grand Cayman, and wreck’d her; the brigantine seeing the fate of her consort, haul’d off in time, and so weather’d the island. The next day Captain Anstis put in, and found that all, or the greatest part of the crew, were safe ashore, whereupon she came to an anchor, in order to fetch them off; and having brought Fenn the Captain, Philips the carpenter, and a few others aboard, two men-of-war came down upon them, viz. the Hector and Adventure, so that the brigantine had but just time to cut their cable, and get to sea, with one of the men-of-war after her, keeping within gunshot for several hours. Anstis and his crew were now under the greatest consternation imaginable, finding the gale freshen, and the man-of-war gaining ground upon them, so that, in all probability, they must have been prisoners in two hours more; but it pleased God to give them a little longer time, the wind dying away, the pirates got out
