g and reliable authority on our side. Stith, in his
history of Virginia, fixes the date in 1618.[129] On the same page
there is an account of the trial and sentence of Capt. Brewster. The
ship "Treasurer" had evidently left England in the winter of 1618.
When she reached the Virginia colony, she was furnished with a new
crew and abundant supplies for her cruise. Neill says she returned
with booty and "a certain number of negroes." Campbell agrees that it
was some time before the landing of the Dutch man-of-war that "The
Treasurer" returned to Virginia. He says, "She returned to Virginia
after some ten months with her booty, which consisted of captured
negroes, who were not left in Virginia, because Capt. Argall had gone
back to England, but were put on the Earl of Warwick's plantation in
the Somer Islands."[130]

During the last two and one-half centuries the readers of the history
of Virginia have been mislead as to these two vessels, the Dutch
man-of-war and "The Treasurer." The Dutch man-of-war did land the
first slaves; but the ship "Treasurer" was the first to bring them to
this country, in 1618.

When in 1619 the Dutch man-of-war brought the first slaves to
Virginia, Capt. Miles Kendall was deputy-governor. The man-of-war
claimed to sail under commission of the Prince of Orange. Capt.
Kendall gave orders that the vessel should not land in any of his
harbors: but the vessel was without provisions; and the Negroes,
_fourteen_ in number, were tendered for supplies. Capt. Kendall
accepted the slaves, and, in return, furnished the man-of-war with the
coveted provisions. In the mean while Capt. Butler came and assumed
charge of the affairs of the Virginia Company, and dispossessed
Kendall of his slaves, alleging that they were the property of the
Earl of Warwick. He insisted that they were taken from the ship
"Treasurer,"[131] "with which the said Holland man-of-war had
consorted." Chagrined, and wronged by Gov. Butler, Capt. Kendall
hastened back to England to lay his case before the London Company,
and to seek equity. The Earl of Warwick appeared in court, and claimed
the Negroes as his property, as having belonged to his ship, "The
Treasurer." Every thing that would embarrass Kendall was introduced by
the earl. At length, as a final resort, charges were formally
preferred against him, and the matter referred to Butler for decision.
Capt. Kendall did not fail to appreciate the gravity of his case, when
charges were