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faith and decides to ship out with Mission. In a battle with a
pirate, both are distinguished by their braveI)'. Gradually
Caraccioli converts Mission to atheism and communism, or
rather to "perfect Deism".
Then, in a fight with an English ship, the French captain
and officers are killed. Caraccioli nominates Mission for the
captaincy, and both men deliver long speeches to the crew,
persuading them of their revolutiona:ty designs (and mentioning
Alexander the Great, Henry IV and VII of England,
and "Mahomet", as figures of inspiration!). They persuade
the crew to found a "new marine republic." "EveI)' man is
born free, and has as much right to what will support him as
to the air he respires."
The bo'sun Mathew Ie Tonder suggests flying the black
flag (the so-called Jolly Roger) as their standard-but
Caraccioli objects, saying "they were no pirates but men who
were resolved to effect the Liberty which God and Nature
gave them." He makes reference to "Peoples' Rights and
Liberties," "shaking the yoak of tyranny," the "miseI)' of
oppression and poverty." "Pirates were men of no principle
and led dissolute lives; but their lives were to be brave, just,
and innocent." For their emblem they choose a white ensign
with the motto "For God and Liberty." (All this sounds more
like Deum than "Atheism", but in the early 18th centuI)' the
terms were still virtually interchangable.)
Mission and the crew now engage in a series of successful
attacks on ships, taking as booty only what they need.
then letting them go free. Episodes of chival:ty and kindness
alternate with courage and violence. Off the coast of Africa
they capture a Dutch slaver; Mission makes another long
speech to the crew, arguing "that the Trading for those ofour
own Species. cou'd never be agreeable to the Eyes of divine
Justice. That no Man had Power of the Liberty of another;
and while those who profess a more enlightened Knowledge
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the Deity. sold Men like Beasts; they prov'd that their
Religion was no more than a Grimace!" Mission goes on to
.. say that he. for one, "had not exempted his Neck from the
galling Yoak of SlaveI)', and asserted his own Liberty, to
enslave others," and he urges the sailors to accept the
Africans as fellow crewmen-which they do.
Some time afterwards they settle down on the island of
Johanna in the Indian Ocean, where Mission marries the
daughter of "the local dusky queen," and the crew also find
wives. For a few years Mission continues to make speeches,
rob ships, and occasionally-when forced by circumstances-to
slaughter his enemies. (As Lord Byron put it,
Mission "was the mildest manner'd man! That ever scuttled
ship or cut a throat.") [Quoted by Gosse, 1924: 218]
Mission now decides on a venture in intentional community,
and moves his people to Madagascar. 39 Here they begin
to construct a purely socialist society in which private property
is abolished and all wealth held in a common treasuI)'.
No hedges separate the pirates' plots ofland. Docks and fortifications
are built, and two new ships, ChilJhood and Liberty,
are sent to map the coast. A Session House is built, and
Mission is elected "Lord Conservator" for a three-year term.
The elected Assembly meets once a year, and nothing of
moment can be undertaken without its approval. The laws are
printed and distributed, as "they had some printers and letterformers
among them." The English pirate Capt. Tew is
Admiral ofthe Fleet, Caraccioli is SecretaI)' of State, and the
Council consists of the ablest pirates "without distinction of
nation or colour." A new language is invented, a melange of
French, English, Dutch, Portuguese, etc. This progressive
39. According to Course (1966). Libertatia was located near the NE
tip ofthe island in Diego Suarez harbor or Antsirana.
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