The pertinacious Livingstone, as might have been expected, was not to be staved off in this fashion; and before long he hit upon a new project. “He did propose to the Earl, that if persons of consideration might be induced to join in the expense of buying and fitting out a proper ship, he had such an opinion of Kidd’s capacity and good meaning, and so great a desire that some stop might be put to these practices that he would be one of the undertakers” (incurring little risk so long as he stood in with persons of sufficient consideration); “and that he and Kidd would be at one-fifth part of the charge. The Earl thought himself obliged in duty to make this second overture known to His Majesty, who was pleased to approve highly of the design, because” (note the reason) “nothing of that nature was to be effected in any other way. He did also declare, as an encouragement to such an undertaking, that the persons with whom the Earl should engage to be at the expense of the voyage should have a grant of what Kidd should take from the pirates, so far as it might belong to him, except some part, which he would reserve for himself chiefly to show that he was a partner in the undertaking.” So far, therefore, as appears from the narrative of this Person of Quality, who is the only witness of these confidential communications, whose evidence is now available. The original suggestion of Kidd, who unlike the majority of his fellow Colonists was opposed to piracy in the East or elsewhere, was that if he was sent out on board of a King’s ship, with officers and men of the King’s navy, he would indicate to them the places to which the pirates were wont to resort, and thus enable the King’s sailors to seize them. The Admiralty doubted the feasibility of this plan, even if they had had the necessary means at the moment to carry it out. The disastrous suggestion that Kidd should be sent out in command of a ship, provided at the expense of persons of consideration, and manned by a scratch crew of undisciplined men, emanated from Livingstone, and was assented to by the King as a _pis-aller_. At the worst the King could not lose a farthing by it. If it succeeded, he would not only gain his object, but pocket a substantial share of the plunder. The adventurers might pocket more, but they would run some risk of parting with their money and getting no return for it. What would happen to Kidd, if he failed, appears to have been no concern to any of them.