Note 1 — CASE OF WILLIAM KIDD.

Public Record Office, C.O. 152:3, no. 21. This letter conveyed to the British government its first knowledge of the return of Captain Kidd to the western hemisphere. The Leeward Islands—Antigua, Montserrat, Nevis, St. Christopher, the most important being Nevis—constituted at this time one government, though with subordinate administration in the several islands. The governor having died, the council, of which William Burt was president, was acting as governor till a new governor should arrive. Burt and the other signers of this letter were all of Nevis. James Vernon, to whom the letter is addressed, was secretary of state; he was the father of Admiral Vernon, for whom Mount Vernon was named.