Two points should be noted in Colonel Hewson’s evidence. First, that he knew that Kidd, years before there was any thought of sending him out to suppress piracy in the eastern seas, had not only done good service for England in the war against France, but had also refused to join his crew in “pirateering,” with the result that they had seized his ship. Secondly, that Kidd had told him before he started on his last unlucky expedition, that he was drawn into the business by an intimation on the part of Bellamont, that there were great men in it, and by the threat that if he did not go, his brigantine would be stopped in the river. That there were great men in the business, far greater men than Bellamont, is indisputable. That great men in those days were wont to use their great power more arbitrarily than they dare to do now-a-days is also indisputable. That Kidd was more or less coerced into embarking in their business by the fear that they might stop his brigantine in the river if he refused to go, cannot, in view of the statement which he made to Colonel Hewson before starting, be reasonably regarded as improbable. To return to the narrative of the Person of Quality, who was not likely to lay stress on these points. “His Majesty,” he says, “was made acquainted with the proposal by the Earl of Bellamont, and was pleased to consult the Admiralty. But the war employing all the King’s ships which were in a condition of service, and the great want of seamen (notwithstanding the press and all other means used), together with the remoteness of the voyage, and the uncertainty of meeting the pirates or taking them if they were found, occasioned after some deliberation the laying aside of the project as impracticable at that time.” In other words, the Admiralty officials, realizing the difficulty of the task, declined to take any part in it, and pleaded inability.