Men are not hang'd for stealing butter, but that butter may not be stolen
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'By this time [after the Battle of Saint Cast,
1758] the
English privateers swarmed to such a degree in the channel, that
scarce a French vessel durst quit the harbour, and consequently there
was little or no booty to be obtained.
In this dearth of legal prizes, some of the adventurers were tempted
to commit acts of piracy, and actually rifled the ships of neutral
nations.
A Dutch vessel, having on board the baggage and domestics belonging to
the marquis de Pignatelli,
ambassador from the court of Spain to the king of Denmark, was
boarded 3 times successively by the crews of 3 different privateers,
who forced the hatches, rummaged the hold, broke open and rifled the
trunks and boxes of the ambassador, insulted and even cruelly
bruised his officers, stripped his domestics, and carried off his
effects, together with letters of credit, and a bill of exchange.
Complaints of these outrages being made to the court of London, the
lords of the admiralty promised, in the gazette, a reward of five
hundred pounds, without deduction, to any person who should discover
the offenders concerned in these acts of piracy. Some of them were
detected accordingly, and brought to condign punishment.'
(From The History of England, Vol II, Ch. XIV by Tobias Smollett.)
'On Aug. 11, 1758, Nicholas Wingfield and Adams Hyde, of Hastings,
masters of two privateer cutters, piratically boarded the Danish ship
"Der lieisende Jacob," on board of which was the Marquis Pignatelli,
Ambassador Extraordinary from his Catholic Majesty to the Court of
Denmark assaulting Jurgan Mtiller, the master of the vessel, and
stealing 20 casks of butter.
The Lords of the Admiralty offered a reward of 500l. Nicholas
Wingfield and Adams Hyde, with 4 others, having been betrayed by
some of their accomplices, were arrested; and on Jan. 15, 1759, were
brought under a strong guard of soldiers, and lodged in the
Marshalsea.
They were tried at the Admiralty sessions, March 9, 1759, when
Nicholas Wingfield and Adams Hyde were found guilty; and on the 28th
of the same month, were hung at Execution
Dock. The 4 others
were acquitted.'
(From The Genuine history of the inhuman and unparalleled murders,
1748-9 by William Galley & Daniel Chater.)
Tags: england, quote
Authors: ag