Pyrates unmoved at Diſtreſs or Poverty, not only ſpoil and rob, but do it from Men needy, and who are purchaſing their Livlihoods thro’ Hazards and Difficulties, which ought rather to move Compaſſion; and what is ſtill worſe, do often, by Perſwaſion or Force, engage the inconſiderate Part of them, to their own and Families Ruin, removing them from their Wives and Children, and by that, from the Means that ſhould ſupport them from Miſery and Want.
To a trading Nation, nothing can be ſo Deſtructive as Pyracy, or call for more exemplary Puniſhment; beſides, the national Reflection it infers: It cuts off the Returns of Induſtry, and thoſe plentiful Importations that alone can make an Iſland flouriſhing; and it is your Aggravation, that ye have been the Chiefs and Rulers in theſe licentious and lawleſs Practices.
However, contrary to the Meaſures ye have dealt, ye have been heard with Patience, and tho’ little has, or poſſibly could, have been ſaid in Excuſe or Extenuation of your Crimes, yet Charity makes us hope that a true and ſincere Repentance (which we heartily recommend) may entitle ye to Mercy and Forgiveneſs, after the Sentence of the Law has taken Place, which now remains upon me to pronounce.
You Dav. Simpſon, William Magnes, R. Hardy, Tho. Sutton, Chriſtopher Moody, and Val. Aſhplant.
Ye, and each of you, are adjudged and ſentenced, to be carried back to the Place from whence ye came, from thence to the Place of Execution, without the Gates of this Caſtle, and there within the Flood-Marks, to be hanged by the Neck till ye are dead.
After this, ye, and each of you ſhall be taken down, and your Bodies hanged in Chains.
War-
