Att. Gen. Did you see major Bonnet on board Manwareing's sloop?

Manwareing. I arrived at Cape James alias Cape Inlopen, the 31st of July: and after be

Judge Trott. Was he not your commander? Pell. He was called our captain, to be sure. Clerk. Have you any questions to ask the king's evidence?

Bonnet. Do not you believe in your conscience, that when we left Topsail-inlet, it was to go to St. Thomas's? And there were near forty hands, and they concluded to a marrooning?

Pell. 1 did believe it was so till after we were out.

Judge Trott. That was what they accused you for on their trials; that you deceived them, under a pretence of going to St. Thomas's.

Bonnet. I am sorry that they should take the opportunity of my absence to accuse me of that which I was free from.

Mr. Dean. If there were forty hands on board, it cannot be thought that he had power to command them.

Judge Trott. But he was commander in chief among them, and that after they went a pirating; was it not so, boatswain?

Pell. He went by that name; but the quarter-master had more power than he.

Judge Trott. What do you mean by your evasions? Was he commander in chief, or was be not ?-Pell. He was.

Judge Trott. Then who had the greatest power?

Att. Gen. Do you know if he received his share of captain Manwareing's goods? Or did any receive it for him?

Pell. Sir, it was the quarter-master took care of that.

Judge Trott. He was commander in chief, and therefore I suppose he had a double share? Pell. I did never enquire whether he had or

not.

Judge Trott. Boatswain, tell the truth; had he his share, or had he not?

Pell. He had it.

Bonnet. Boatswain, did you ever hear me force any man to go?

Pell. No, major, I cannot say I did. Bonnet. Do you not remember, that when we left Topsail Inlet, and they began to quarrel about provision, that I said I would leave the sloop? Pell. I do remember you said so. Judge Trott. But if you did take some for provision, would no less than thirteen vessels satisfy you?

Bonnet. It was contrary to my inclination. Mr. Hepworth. We proceed to call another

evidence.

Captain Peter Manwareing sworn.

Mr. Hepworth. Captain Manwareing, look upon the prisoner at the bar, do you know him?-Manwareing. I know him very well. Mr. Hepworth. Give the Court an account of your being taken by him.

Judge Trott. And before whom was you brought?

Manwareing. Before the man at the bar, captain Thomas he was called then; and so I gave him my papers; and it being night, he said but little more that night. Next morning they hauled the sloop longside the schooner, and hoisted out the rum and molasses out of the sloop, and put on board the schooner; and the first of August we sailed in company to Cape Fear. But indeed the gentleman was very civil to me.

Att. Gen. Did you ever hear him give orders to take out any goods?

Manwareing. He was on board the sloop himself when it was done.

Mr. Hepworth. Do you remember any particular goods taken out?

Manwareing. Yes, Sir.

Clerk. Will you ask the king's evidence any questions?

Bonnet. 1 beg leave to ask whether you ever saw me share among the rest?

Manwareing. You was in the round-house, and a bundle and some pieces was brought; and I saw you take it, and give it the negroboy, to put into the chest.

Bonnet. There were several that I kept their shares for; but it was not mine. Manwareing. It was put away by your or

der.

Bonnet. Did you ever hear me order any thing out of the sloop?

Manwareing. Major Bonnet, I am sorry you should ask me that question: for you know you did which was my all that I had in the world. So that I do not know but my wife and children are now perishing for want of bread in New England. Had it been only myself, I had not mattered it so much: but my poor family grieves me.

Clerk. Will you ask any more questions?
Bonnet. No, Sir.

Mr. Hepworth. We will call another evidence.

of

James Killing sworn.

Mr. Hepworth. Give the Court an account your being taken, and what goods were taken out of you.

The evidence gave in the same relation as in the former trials; and then added, that major Bonnet ordered him to go and shew which was the rum, and which was the molasses.

Mr. Hepworth. Do you remember in particular what goods were taken out? Killing. Yes, Sir.

Mr. Hepworth. Were the twenty-one hogsheads of molasses, and the rum taken out? Killing. Yes, Sir.

Att. Gen. And all by major Bonnet's order?

Killing. Major Bonnet gave orders for it to be done.

Judge Trott. What need had you of so

much molasses?

Bonnet I did not carry it away, and it was contrary to my inclination.

Judge Trott. You gave orders for it to be done, and yet it was contrary to your inclinations.

Clerk. Will you ask the king's evidence any questions?-Bonnet. No, Sir.

Mr. Hepworth. We will call another evidence.

Captain Thomas Read sworn.

Mr. Hepworth. Please to give the Court an account of captain Manwareing's being taken. Read. After we came to Cape James, we saw a sloop come to an anchor, and major Bonnet ordered the dory, with five hands to go off; and in about half an hour they came on board with captain Manwareing.

Att. Gen. Was you on board the Revenge when the dory was sent off?

Read. Yes, Sir.

Att. Gen. And major Bonnet gave orders to take out those goods?-Read. Yes, Sir. Judge Trott. Was be on board himself? Read. Yes; and ordered the several goods to be taken out.

Att. Gen. Do you know if the major received his share?

Read. The captain was in the round-house when they shared, and they brought in several pieces of cloth, and a bag of money.

Mr. Hepworth. Who brought that to him? Read. I do not know which of the men. Att. Gen. And did the captain receive his share?

Read. He ordered it to be put in the chest by the boy.

Clerk. Will you ask any questions?
Bonnet. No, Sir.

Judge Trott. You now stand on your de fence: what have you to say, I shall be ready to hear.

Bonnet. May it please your honours, there is a young man come from North Carolina, that will say something in my defence.

King. He came down out of the country. Judge Trott. If this be all the evidence you have, I do not see this will be of much use to you; but if you have any thing further to say, I shall be ready to hear you.

Bonnet. I should be glad to go through both indictments at once.

Judge Trott. We shall go through but one indictment now; therefore you must prepare to speak to that singly.

Bonnet. May it please your honours, and the rest of the gentlemen, though I must confess myself a sinner, and the greatest of sinners, yet I am not guilty of what I am charged with. As for what the boatswain says, relating to several vessels, I am altogether free; for 1 never gave my consent to any such actions: for I often told them, if they did not leave off committing such robberies, I would leave the sloop; and desired them to put me on shore. And as for taking captain Manwareing, I assure your honours it was contrary to my inclination. And when I cleared my vessel at North Carolina, it I was for St. Thomas's; and I had no other end or design in view but to go there for a commission. But when we came to sea, and saw a vessel, the quarter-master, and some of the rest, held a consultation to take it: but I opposed it, and told them again I would leave the sloop, and let them go where they pleased. For, as the young man said, colonel Brice's son can testify that I had clearance for St. Thomas's.

Judge Trott. Was colonel Brice's son there when you cleared for St. Thomas's?

Bonnet. Yes; and col. Brice's son knew I was designed for St. Thomas's.

Judge Trott. But, pray, what business had you at St. Thomas's? Surely after you had contracted so much guilt upon your conscience by your former piracies and robberies, you might have been contented to have lived a retired life in North Carolina, reflected on your former wicked course of living, and repented of the same, and not engaged in new actions.

Bonnet. I never took a vessel but with captain Thatch.

Judge Trott. Did you not take capt. Manwareing's sloop?

Bonnet. It was contrary to my inclinations; and I told them several times if they would not leave off that course of life, I would leave the sloop: and when capt. Manwareing was taken, I was asleep.

Judge Trott. How came you to order the dory to be sent off with five hands to take him? And capt. Read swears it was by your order.

Att. Gen. May it please your honours, and the gentlemen of the jury, the prisoner at the bar hath pleaded Not Guilty to the indictment; but the boatswain, though he seems to bear a very great affection to him, yet tells you that he was commander in chief among them at the time when captain Manwareing was taken. Captain Manwareing tells you, when he was

their king and country, were murdered, and their blood now cries out for vengeance and justice against you; for it is the voice of nature, confirmed by the law of God, that "whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed." Gen. ix. 6.

And consider that death is not the only punishment due to murderers; for they are threatened to have "their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death," Rev. xxi. 8, See chap. xxii. 15. Words which carry that terror with them, that considering your circumstances and your guilt, surely the sound of them must make you tremble; for who can dwell with everlasting burnings P" chap. xxxiii. 14.

As the testimony of your conscience must convince you of the great and many evils you have committed, by which you have highly offended God, and provoked most justly his wrath and indignation against you, so I suppose I need not tell you, that the only way of obtaining pardon and remission of your sius from God, is by a true and unfeigned repentance and faith in Christ, by whose meritorious death and passion, you can only hope for salvation.

You being a gentleman that have had the advantage of a liberal education, and being generally esteemed a man of letters, I believe it will be needless for me to explain to you the nature of repentance and faith in Christ, they being so fully and so often mentioned in the Scriptures, that you cannot but know them. And therefore, perhaps, for that reason it might be thought by some improper for me to have said so much to you, as I have already upon this occasion; neither should I have done it, but that considering the course of your life and actions, I have just reason to fear, that the principles of religion that had been instilled into you by your education, have been at least corrupted, if not entirely defaced, by the scepticism and infidelity of this wicked age; and that what time you allowed for study, was rather applied to the polite literature, and the vain philosophy of the times, than a serious search after the law and will of God, as revealed to us in the Holy Scriptures: for "had your delight been in the law of the Lord, and you had meditated therein day and night," Psal. i. 2, you would then have found that God's "word was a lamp unto your feet, and a light to your path," Psal. cxix. 105, and that you will account all other knowledge but loss, in comparison of "the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus," Phil. iii. 8, "who to them that are called is the power of God, and the wisdom of God," 1 Cor. i. 24, "even the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the world," chap. ii. 7.

You would then have esteemed the Scriptures as the great charter of heaven, and which delivered to us not only the most perfect laws and rules of life, but also discovered to us those acts of pardon from God, wherein we have offended those righteous laws: for in them only is to be found the great mystery of fallen

man's "redemption, which the angels desire to look into," 1 Pet. i. 12.

And they would have taught you that sin is the debasing of human nature, as being a deviation from that purity, rectitude, and holiness, in which God created us; and that virtue and religion, and walking by the laws of God, were altogether preferable to the ways of sin and Satan; for that the "ways of virtue are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace," Prov. iii. 17.

But what you could not learn from God's word, by reason of your carelessly, or but superficially considering the same, I hope the course of his providence, and the present afflictions that he hath laid upon you, hath now convinced you of the same: For however in your seeming prosperity you might make a mock at your sins, Prov. ii. 17. yet now that you see God's hand hath reached you, and brought you to public justice, I hope your present unhappy circumstances hath made you seriously reflect upon your past actions and course of life; and that you are now sensible of the greatness of your sins, and that you find the burden of them is intolerable.

And that therefore being thus, "labouring, and heavy laden with sin," Mat. xi. 28, you will esteem that as the most valuable knowledge, which can shew you how you can be reconciled to that supreme God whom you have so highly offended; and which can reveal to you him who is not only the powerful “ advocate with the Father for you," 1 John ii. 1, but also who hath paid that debt that is due for your sins by his own death upon the cross for you, and thereby made full satisfaction to the justice of God. And this is to be found no where but in God's word, which discovers to us that "Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world,” John i. 29, which is Christ the Son of God: For this know, and be assured, that "there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved," Acts iv. 12, but only by the name of the Lord Jesus.

But then consider how he invites all sinners to come unto him, and "that he will give them rest," Matt. xi. 28, for he assures us, "that he canie to seek and to save that which was lost;" Luke xix. 10, Matt. xviii. 11, and hath promised that he that cometh unto him, he will in no wise cast out," John vi. 37.

So that if now you will sincerely turn to him, though late, even at the "eleventh hour,' Matt, xx. 6, 9, he will receive you.

But surely I need not tell you, that the terms of his mercy is faith and repentance.

And do not mistake the nature of repentance to be only a bare sorrow for your sins, arising from the consideration of the evil and punishment they have now brought upon you; but your sorrow must arise from the consideration of your having offended a gracious and merciful God.

But I shall not pretend to give you any particular directions as to the nature of repentance:

I consider that I speak to a person whose of fences have proceeded not so much from his not knowing, as his slighting and neglecting his duty: Neither is it proper for me to give advice out of the way of my own profession.

You may have that better delivered to you by those who have made divinity their particular study; and who by their knowledge, as well as their office, as being the ambassadors of Christ, 2 Cor. v. 20, are best qualified to give you instructions therein.

I only heartily wish that what, in compassion to your soul, I have now said to you upon this sad and solemn occasion, by exhorting you in general to faith and repentance, may have that due effect upon you, that thereby you may be come a true penitent.

And therefore having now discharged my

*

To the Right Hon. the Lords Spiritual and Temporal in Parliament assembled, the humble PETITION of Alexander Burrowes, esq. late Sheriff of the county of Kildare. Most humbly sheweth; That on the 3d day of October, 1717, your lordships were pleased to order, that the high-sheriff of the county of Kildare should forthwith put Hester Sherlock into the possession of the lands of Little Rath, and other lands in the said Order mentioned, which were to be held by her till she should receive thereout the sum of 1,5071. 14s. 84d., chargeable upon the said lands.

That Charles Nuttal, esq. then high-sheriff of the county of Kildare, in obedience to, and by virtue of your lordships' said Order, on the 6th day of October aforesaid, put the said Hester Sherlock into the possession of the premises; and she was in the actual possession thereof, when your petitioner was appointed and sworn

In 1722, he was appointed a baron of the Exchequer in England, and in 17,25 chief baron of that Court.

sheriff of the said county of Kildare for the year, ending at Michaelmas, 1718.

That on the 15th day of March, 1717, an injunction issued out of the Court of Exchequer, signed by the right honourable Jeffery and under the seal thereof, directed to your Gilbert, esq. lord chief baron of the said Court; petitioner, being then sheriff of the said county; whereby your petitioner was required immediately after receipt thereof, pursuant to an order of the said Court of Exchequer, bearing date the 19th day of February preceding, (alnotice of your lordships' said Order of the 3d of though the barons of the said Court had due October aforesaid) to restore Maurice Annesley, esq. to the possession of those lands, whereof the said Hester Sherlock was then actually possessed by virtue of, and under your lordships' said Order. And your petitioner was also required by the said injunction to support and keep the said Maurice Annesley in such possession of the premises till the further order of the said Court, or till the said Maurice Annesley should be thereout evicted by due course of law; which injunction was delivered to your petitioner by John Annesley (the said Maurice's brother) who required your petitioner to give him the possession of the said lands, having a Letter of Attorney from his said brother for that purpose (as he informed your petitioner ;) but your petitioner refused to execute the said injunction, conceiving it to be a breach of your lordships' said Order of the 3d of October, 1717, and of the rights and privileges of this honourable House.