Of Captain Mission by Daniel Defoe
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DANIEL DEFOE
OF CAPTAIN MISSON
GENERAL EDITORS
Richard C. Boys, _University of Michigan_ Ralph Cohen, _University of
California, Los Angeles_ Vinton A. Dearing, _University of California,
Los Angeles_ Lawrence Clark Powell, _Clark Memorial Library_
ASSISTANT EDITOR
W. Earl Britton, _University of Michigan_
ADVISORY EDITORS
Emmett L. Avery, _State College of Washington_ Benjamin Boyce, _Duke
University_ Louis Bredvold, _University of Michigan_ John Butt,
_University of Edinburgh_ James L. Clifford, _Columbia University_
Arthur Friedman, _University of Chicago_ Louis A. Landa, _Princeton
University_ Samuel H. Monk, _University of Minnesota_ Ernest C. Mossner,
_University of Texas_ James Sutherland, _University College, London_
H.T. Swedenberg, Jr., _University of California, Los Angeles_
CORRESPONDING SECRETARY
Edna C. Davis, _Clark Memorial Library_
INTRODUCTION
Defoe has been recognized as the author of _A General History of the
Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pyrates_ since 1932 when
John Robert Moore suggested that the supposed author, Captain Charles
Johnson, like Andrew Moreton, Kara Selym or Captain Roberts, was merely
another mask for the creator of _Robinson Crusoe_. Although most of the
first volume is of minor literary importance, the second section which
appeared in 1728 as _The History of the Pyrates_ commenced with a life
"Of Captain Misson and His Crew," one of Defoe's most remarkable and
neglected works of fiction. In much the same manner and at the same time
that John Gay was satirizing Walpole's government in _The Beggar's
Opera_, Defoe began to use his pirates as a commentary on the injustice
and hypocrisy of contemporary English society. Among Defoe's gallery of
pirates are Captain White, who refused to rob from women and children;
Captain Bellamy, the proletarian revolutionist; and captain North, whose
sense of justice and honesty was a rebuke to the corruption of
government under Walpole. But the fictional Captain Misson, the founder
of a communist utopia, is by far the most original of these creations.
If we were to accept the view of nineteenth-century critics, that Defoe
was one of the earliest exponents of _laissez faire_, his creation of a
communist utopia would seem remarkable indeed. But paradoxes fascinated
Defoe, and his ideas can seldom be reduced to unambiguous platitudes. He
was especially fascinated by the comparison between businessmen and
thieves. In 1707 he urged the government to pardon the Madagascar
pirates if they agreed to stop their crimes, pay a large sum of money
and "become honest Freeholders, as others of our _West-India_ Pyrates,
_Merchants I should have said_, have done before them." And he noted
that "it would make a sad Chasm on the _Exchange of London_, if all the
Pyrates should be taken away from the Merchants there."[1] Twelve years
later just before the start of the South Sea Bubble, Defoe attacked
stock-jobbing as "a Branch of Highway Robbing."[2]
Although these attacks were directed mainly at "trade thieves" and
corruptions in business practices, they reflect Defoe's growing concern
with problems of poverty and wealth in England. In his preface to the
first volume of the _General History of the Pyrates_, Defoe argued that
the unemployed seaman had no choice but to "_steal or starve_." When the
pirate, Captain Bellamy, boards a merchant ship from Boston, he attacks
the inequality of capitalist society, the ship owners, and most of all,
the Captain:
_damn ye, you are a sneaking Puppy, and so are all those who will submit
to be governed by Laws which rich Men have made for their own Security,
for the cowardly Whelps have not the Courage otherwise to defend what
they get by their Knavery; but damn ye altogether: Damn them for a Pack
of crafty Rascals, and you, who serve them, for a Parcel of hen-hearted
Numskuls. They villify us, the Scoundrels do, when there is only this
Difference, they rob the Poor under the Cover of Law, forsooth, and we
plunder the Rich under the Protection of our own Courage._[3]
Bellamy asks the crew of the captured ship to abandon the slavery of
working for low wages under severe captains for the complete economic
and political equality of life on a pirate ship.
Government on Captain Misson's ship, the _Victoire_, and in the colony
of Libertalia is partially an idealization of the pirate's creed. But
two other elements which must be considered are, first, the concept of
government in the state of nature, and secondly, the ideal of the
socialist utopia. Most political theorists of Defoe's time postulated a
state of nature in which man lived either entirely free from government
or under loose patriarchal control, from which he was removed either by
the invention of money, the discovery of agriculture or by some crime.
To a certain extent, Misson's pirate government may be regarded as a
stage in the evolution of government. In _The Farther Adventures of
Robinson Crusoe_, Defoe showed how government evolved from the anarchy
of the state of nature. Both Crusoe's colony and Libertalia are
eventually forced to establish government, private property and criminal
laws, but Libertalia, which retains its egalitarian and democratic
character, is overthrown by its failure to account for human evil and
crime.
A second influence on Captain Misson's ideology is Plutarch's
description of the laws of Sparta and Rome. Even during the "Anti-
Communist Period" which followed the Glorious Revolution, the well-
regulated state of the Lacedemonians remained the norm for Utopias. The
influence of Plutarch pervades the biographies in the _General History
of the Pyrates._ Lycurgus' laws echo throughout Misson's attacks on
luxury and the unequal distribution of wealth, while Plutarch's study of
Spartacus, which is mentioned in Defoe's preface, may well have been the
model for his hero.
But neither the desire to regain the purity of the state of nature nor
an admiration for Spartan simplicity entirely explain Misson's vigorous
demand for freedom and his attacks on the corruption of the ruling
class. By refusing to fly the pirate flag, Misson dramatizes the growing
revolt of the poor against a useless nobility. The crew of the
_Victoire_ are, prophetically enough, French. Their aspiration is for a
society following the precepts of _la carriθre ouverte aux talents_;
their revolt is that of a few courageous men unafraid to engage in the
pirate's "war against mankind" while those of lesser courage "dance to
the Musick of their Chains."
Defoe's study of Misson is different from the Utopias of More, Bacon or
Campanella in so far as there is no discovery of an ideal civilization.
Libertalia is a Utopia which reflects a direct reaction to the abuses of
the time--abuses of economic, political and religious freedom.
Anticipating Beccaria's criticism of the death penalty by almost forty
years, Carracioli argues that since man's right to life is inalienable,
no government can have the power of capital punishment.[4] Misson's
belief in equality is extended to include the negro slaves the
_Victoire_ takes at sea as well as the natives of Madagascar. After
asking the negroes to join his crew, Misson tells his men that
the Trading for those of our own Species, could never be agreeable to
the Eyes of divine Justice: That no Man had Power of the Liberty of
another; and while those who profess'd a more enlightened Knowledge of
the Deity, sold men like Beasts; they prov'd that their Religion was no
more than Crimace...: For his Part he hop'd, he spoke the Sentiments of
all his brave Companions, he had not exempted his Neck from the galling
Yoak of Slavery, and asserted his own Liberty to enslave others.
Slavery is banished from Misson's ship, and the negroes are schooled in
the principles of freedom.
Perhaps the most difficult problem in discussing the principles of
Misson and Carracioli is to attempt an explanation of why Defoe, a
Presbyterian, should have made his protagonists into deists. Defoe
attacks Carracioli's deistic arguments through his narrator, Captain
Johnson, who remarks that such ideas are pernicious only to "weak Men
who cannot discover their Fallacy." But since similar ideas appear in
Robert _Drury's Journal_ published a year later, it may be assumed that
the arguments of the deists held a certain fascination for Defoe at this
time. Carracioli's deism also has a dramatic function in the story. That
on a voyage to Rome a young man like Misson should be converted to deism
by a disillusioned "lewd" priest was in harmony with the traditional
English belief in the dangers of Italy.[5] That Carracioli should
combine the rebellion against organized religion with the revolt against
monarchy is indicative of Defoe's keen apprehension of the future course
of history.
Considered as a short novel, the history "Of Captain Misson and his
Crew" reveals many of the same techniques which Defoe used in his longer
works. To gain a sense of verisimilitude the narrator pretends to be
working from a manuscript, a device which Defoe also employed in his
_Memoirs of a Cavalier_. As in _Colonel Jack_ real historical figures
and events from the War of the Spanish Succession are woven into the
adventures of the _Victoire_. Captain Misson and his crew sink the
Winchelsea, an English ship lost in the West Indies at the end of
August, 1707, and they barely escape from Admiral Wager's fleet which
fought a famous battle there in 1708. Even the name of Misson's ship,
the _Victoire_; was undoubtedly familiar to Defoe as the vessel
commanded by the famous French corsair, Cornil Saus.[6] So convincing is
Defoe that although his hero is shown meeting a real freebooter, Captain
Tew, ten years after Tew's death, Misson is still included in the
histories of piracy.[7]
Also typical of Defoe's fiction is the relationship between Captain
Misson, the leader, and his intellectual mentor, Carracioli. Colonel
Jack and his tutor, Moll Flanders and her Governess and particularly,
Captain Singleton and William Walters form similar groups. Just as
William Walters, a Quaker, reminds Captain Singleton and the crew that
their business is not fighting but making money, so Carracioli addresses
lengthy speeches to the crew, converting everyone on the _Victoire_ to
democracy and deism. Misson's Libertalia takes root in Madagascar, where
Singleton wanted to establish a colony, while both Carracioli and
Walters adapt the secular aspects of their religion to piracy. But
whereas Walters eventually converts Singleton into an honest Christian,
Carracioli leads Misson into piracy.
In the history "Of Captain Misson and his Crew," Defoe decided to pursue
the same method of third person narrative as in his brief biographies of
real pirates. The result is that he merely provides a sketch of
political theories rather than a study of human beings. Of course there
are good reasons for this. Defoe was more interested in dramatizing
proletarian utopian ideals than in developing the inner workings of
Misson's mind. The novelette is unified by its epic theme, not by its
study of character or its episodic plot.
Although Defoe toyed with radical notions throughout _The History of the
Pyrates_, he had little faith in their practicality. Libertalia must be
understood as Defoe's best expression of political and social ideals
which he admired but considered unworkable. The continuation of Misson's
career in the section "Of Captain Tew" depicts the decline and fall of
the utopia and the hero's tragic death as a disillusioned idealist.
This, however, is another story, a story which suggested that private
property was necessary, equality impossible and slavery a useful
expedient for colonization. It was a far more comforting message for the
Augustan Age, but it could not silence the tocsins of the French
Revolution which sound throughout the speeches of Misson and Carracioli.
Maximillian E. Novak University of Michigan
Bibliographical Note
The text of "Of Captain Misson and His Crew" has been reproduced from
the Henry E. Huntington Library's first edition copy of the second
volume of _A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the Most
Notorious Pyrates_ which appeared under the title _The History of the
Pyrates_.
Notes to the Introduction
[Footnote 1: Daniel Defoe, _A Review of the Affairs of France_, ed. A.
W. Secord (New York, 1938), IV, 424a.]
[Footnote 2: _The Anatomy of Exchange--Alley_ (London, 1719), p. 8.]
[Footnote 3: _A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the Most
Notorious Pyrates_ (London, 1728), II, 220.]
[Footnote 4: See Cesare Beccaria, _An Essay on Crimes and Punishments_
(Stanford, 1953), pp. 97-99.]
[Footnote 5: In the previous year Defoe had written that "it was the
most dangerous thing in the World for a young Gentleman, sober and
virtuous, to venture into _Italy_, till he was thoroughly grounded in
Principle, ... for that nothing was more ordinary, than for such either
to be seduc'd, by the Subtlety of the Clergy, to embrace a false
Religion, or by the Artifice of a worse Enemy, to give up all Religion,
and sink into _Scepticism_ and _Deism_, or, perhaps, _Atheism_." _A New
Family Instructor_ (London, 1727), p. 17.]
[Footnote 6: See Ruth Bourne, _Queen Anne's Navy in the West Indies_
(New Haven, 1939), pp. 63, 169-172; and _Manuscripts of the House of
Lords_, New Series (London, 1921), VII, 117-119.]
[Footnote 7: See Philip Gosse, _The History of Piracy_ (New York, 1934),
p. 194; and Patrick Pringle, _Jolly Roger_ (London, 1953), pp. 136-138.]
_Omne tulit punctum, qui miscuit utile dulci_. Hor.
THE HISTORY OF THE PYRATES. VOL. II.
OF CAPTAIN MISSON.
We can be somewhat particular in the Life of this Gentleman, because, by
very great Accident, we have got into our Hands a _French_ Manuscript,
in which he himself gives a Detail of his Actions. He was born in
_Provence_, of an ancient Family; his Father, whose true Name he
conceals, was Master of a plentiful Fortune; but having a great Number
of Children, our Rover had but little Hopes of other Fortune than what
he could carve out for himself with his Sword. His Parents took Care to
give him an Education equal to his Birth. After he had passed his
Humanity and Logick, and was a tolerable Mathematician, at the Age of
Fifteen he was sent to _Angiers_, where he was a Year learning His
Exercises. His Father, at his Return home, would have put him into the
Musketeers; but as he was of a roving Temper, and much affected with the
Accounts he had read in Books of Travels, he chose the Sea as a Life
which abounds with more Variety, and would afford him an Opportunity to
gratify his Curiosity, by the Change of Countries Having made this
Choice, his Father, with Letters of Recommendation, and every Thing
fitting for him, sent him Voluntier on board the _Victoire_, commanded
by Monsieur _Fourbin_, his Relation. He was received on Board with all
possible Regard by the Captain, whose Ship was at _Marseilles_, and was
order'd to cruise soon after _Misson's_ Arrival. Nothing could be more
agreeable to the Inclinations of our Voluntier than this Cruize, which
made him acquainted with the most noted Ports of the _Mediterranean_,
and gave him a great Insight into the practical Part of Navigation. He
grew fond of this Life, and was resolved to be a compleat Sailor, which
made him always one of the first on a Yard Arm, either to Hand or Reef,
and very inquisitive in the different Methods of working a Ship: His
Discourse was turn'd on no other Subject, and he would often get the
Boatswain and Carpenter to teach him in their Cabbins the constituent
Parts of a Ship's Hull, and how to rigg her, which he generously paid
'em for; and tho' he spent a great Part of his Time with these two
Officers, yet he behaved himself with such Prudence that they never
attempted at a Familiarity, and always paid the Respect due to his
Family. The Ship being at _Naples_, he obtained Leave of his Captain to
go to _Rome_, which he had a great Desire to visit. Hence we may date
his Misfortunes; for, remarking the licentious Lives of the Clergy (so
different from the Regularity observ'd among the _French_
Ecclesiasticks,) the Luxury of the Papal Court, and that nothing but
Hulls of Religion was to be found in the Metropolis of the Christian
Church, he began to figure to himself that all Religion was no more than
a Curb upon the Minds of the Weaker, which the wiser Sort yielded to, in
Appearance only. These Sentiments, so disadvantageous to Religion and
himself, were strongly riveted by accidentally becoming acquainted with
a lewd Priest, who was, at his Arrival (by meer Chance) his Confessor,
and after that his Procurer and Companion, for he kept him Company to
his Death. One Day, having an Opportunity, he told _Misson_, a Religious
was a very good Life, where a Man had a subtle enterprising Genius, and
some Friends; for such a one wou'd, in a short Time, rise to such
Dignities in the Church, the Hopes of which was the Motive of all the
wiser Sort, who voluntarily took upon them the sacerdotal Habit. That
the ecclesiastical State was govern'd with the same Policy as were
secular Principalities and Kingdoms; that what was beneficial, not what
was meritorious and virtuous, would be alone regarded. That there were
no more Hopes for a Man of Piety and Learning in the Patrimony of St.
_Peter_, than in any other Monarchy, nay, rather less; for this being
known to be real, that Man's rejected as a Visionary, no way fit for
Employment; as one whose Scruples might prove prejudicial; for its a
Maxim, that Religion and Politicks can never set up in one House. As to
our Statesmen, don't imagine that the Purple makes 'em less Courtiers
than are those of other Nations; they know and pursue the _Reggione del
Stato_ (a Term of Art which means Self-Interest) with as much Cunning
and as little Conscience as any Secular; and are as artful where Art is
required, and as barefaced and impudent when their Power is great enough
to support 'em, in the oppressing the People, and aggrandizing their
Families. What their Morals are, you may read in the Practice of their
Lives, and their Sentiments of Religion from this Saying of a certain
Cardinal, _Quantum Lucrum ex ista fabula Christi!_ which many of 'em may
say, tho' they are not so foolish. For my Part, I am quite tir'd of the
Farce, and will lay hold on the first Opportunity to throw off this
masquerading Habit; for, by Reason of my Age, I must act an under Part
many Years; and before I can rise to share the Spoils of the People, I
shall, I fear, be too old to enjoy the Sweets of Luxury; and, as I am an
Enemy to Restraint, I am apprehensive I shall never act up to my
Character, and carry thro' the Hypocrite with Art enough to rise to any
considerable Post in the Church. My Parents did not consult my Genius,
or they would have given me a Sword instead of a Pair of Beads.
_Misson_ advised him to go with him Voluntier, and offer'd him Money to
cloath him; the Priest leap'd at the Proposal, and a Letter coming to
_Misson_ from his Captain, that he was going to _Leghorn_, and left to
him either to come to _Naples_, or go by Land; he chose the latter, and
the _Dominican_, whom he furnish'd with Money, clothing himself very
Cavalierly, threw off his Habit, and preceeded him two Days, staying at
_Pisa_ for _Misson_; from whence they went together to _Leghorn_, where
they found the _Victoire_, and Signor _Caraccioli_, recommended by his
Friend, was received on Board. Two Days after they weigh'd from hence,
and after a Week's Cruize fell in with two _Sally_ Men, the one of
twenty, the other of twenty four Guns; the _Victoire_ had but thirty
mounted, though she had Ports for forty. The Engagement was long and
bloody, for the _Sally_ Man hop'd to carry the _Victoire_; and, on the
contrary, Captain _Fourbin_, so far from having any Thoughts of being
taken, he was resolutely bent to make Prize of his Enemies, or sink his
Ship. One of the _Sally_ Men was commanded by a _Spanish_ Renegade,
(though he had only the Title of a Lieutenant) for the Captain was a
young Man who knew little of Marine Affairs.
This Ship was called the _Lyon_; and he attempted, more than once, to
board the _Victoire_, but by a Shot betwixt Wind and Water, he was
obliged to sheer off, and running his Guns, &c. on one Side, bring her
on the careen to stop his Leak; this being done with too much
Precipitation, she overset, and every Soul was lost: His Comrade seeing
this Disaster, threw out all his small sails, and endeavour'd to get
off, but the _Victoire_ wrong'd her, and oblig'd her to renew the Fight,
which she did with great Obstinacy, and made Monsieur _Fourbin_ despair
of carrying her if he did not board; he made Preparations accordingly.
Signior _Caraccioli_ and _Misson_ were the two first on board when the
Command was given; but they and their Followers were beat back by the
Despair of the _Sally_ Men; the former received a Shot in his Thigh, and
was carried down to the Surgeon. The _Victoire_ laid her on board the
second time, and the _Sally_ Men defended their Decks with such
Resolution, that they were cover'd with their own, and the dead Bodies
of their Enemies. _Misson_ seeing one of 'em jump down the Main-Hatch
with a lighted Match, suspecting his Design, resolutely leap'd after
him, and reaching him with his Sabre, laid him dead the Moment he going
to set Fire to the Powder. The _Victoire_ pouring in more Men, the
_Mahometans_ quitted the Decks, finding Resistance vain, and fled for
Shelter to the Cook Room, Steerage and Cabbins, and some run between
Decks. The _French_ gave 'em Quarters, and put the Prisoners on board
the _Victoire_, the Prize yielding nothing worth mention, except Liberty
to about fifteen Christian Slaves; she was carried into and sold with
the Prisoners at _[text unreadable]_. The Turks lost a great many Men,
the _French_ not less than 35 in boarding, for they lost very few by the
great Shot, the _Sally_ Men firing mostly at the Masts and Rigging,
hoping by disabling to carry her. The limited Time of their Cruize
being out, the _Victoire_ returned to _Marseilles_, from whence
_Misson_, taking his Companion, went to visit his Parents, to whom the
Captain sent a very advantageous Character, both of his Courage and
Conduct. He was about a Month at home when his Captain wrote to him,
that his Ship was ordered to _Rochelle_, from whence he was to sail for
the _West-Indies_ with some Merchant Men. This was very agreeable to
_Misson_ and Signior _Caraccioli_, who immediately set out for
_Marseilles_. This Town is well fortified, has four Parish Churches, and
the Number of Inhabitants is computed to be about 120,0000; the Harbour
is esteemed the safest in the _Mediterranean_, and is the common Station
for the _French_ Gallies.
Leaving this Place, they steer'd for _Rochelle_, where the _Victoire_
was dock'd, the Merchant Ships not being near ready. _Misson_, who did
not Care to pass so long a Time in Idleness, proposed to his Comrade the
taking a Cruize on board the _Triumph_, who was going into the _English
Channel_; the _Italian_ readily contented to it.
Between the Isle of _Guernsey_ and the _Start Point_ they met with the
_Mayflower_, Captain _Balladine_ Commanded, a Merchant Ship of 18 Guns,
richly laden, and coming from _Jamaica_. The Captain of the _English_
made a gallant resistance, and fought his Ship so long, that the
_French_ could not carry her into Harbour, wherefore they took the
Money, and what was most valuable, out of her; and finding she made more
Water than the Pumps could free, quitted, and saw her go down in less
than four Hours after. Monsieur _le Blanc_, the _French_ Captain,
received Captain _Balladine_ very civilly, and would not suffer either
him or his Men to be stripp'd, saying, _None but Cowards ought be
treated after that Manner; that brave Men ought to treat such, though
their Enemies, as Brothers; and that to use a gallant Man (who does his
Duty) ill, speaks a Revenge which cannot proceed but from a Coward
Soul._ He order'd that the Prisoners should leave their Chests; and when
some of his Men seem'd to mutter, he bid 'em remember the Grandeur of
the Monarch they serv'd; that they were neither Pyrates nor Privateers;
and, as brave Men, they ought to shew their Enemies an Example they
would willingly have follow'd, and use their Prisoners as they wish'd to
be us'd.
They running up the _English_ Channel as high as _Beachy Head_, and, in
returning, fell in with three fifty Gun Ships, which gave Chace to the
_Triumph_; but as she was an excellent Sailor, she run 'em out of Sight
in seven Glasses, and made the best of her Way for the _Lands-End_ they
here cruized eight Days, then doubling Cape _Cornwall_, ran up the
_Bristol_ Channel, near as far as _Nash Point_, and intercepted a small
Ship from _Barbadoes_, and stretching away to the Northward, gave Chase
to a Ship they saw in the Evening, but lost her in the Night. The
_Triumph_ stood then towards _Milford_ and spying a Sail, endeavour'd to
cut her off the Land, but found it impossible; for she got into the
Haven, though they came up with her very fast, and she had surely been
taken, had the Chase had been any thing longer.
