The next day Roberts appeared in sight with a prize, and his men ran to

tell him of the cruizer as he was dining in the cabin with the prisoner

captain. Roberts declared the vessel was his own returning, or nothing

but a Portuguese or French slave ship, and laughed at the cowards who

feared danger, offering to strike the most apprehensive. As soon as he

discovered his mistake he slipped his cable, got under sail, and ordered

his men to arms, declaring it was "a bite."

He appeared on deck dressed in crimson damask, with a red feather in his

cocked hat, a gold chain and diamond cross round his neck, a sword in

his hand, and two pairs of pistols hanging pirate-fashion from a silk

sling over his shoulders. His orders were given in a loud voice and with

unhesitating boldness. Informed by a deserter that the _Swallow_ sailed

best upon a wind, he resolved to go before it, if disabled to run ashore

and escape among the negroes, or if, as many of his men were drunk,

everything else failed, to board and blow up both vessels.

Exchanging a broadside he made all sail he could crowd, but steering ill

was taken aback and overtaken. At this critical moment a grapeshot

struck him on the throat, and he sat calmly down on the tackle of a gun

and died. The man at the helm running to his assistance, and not seeing

a wound, thought his heart had failed him, and bade him stand up and

fight it out like a man, and remember the _Jolly Roger_. Discovering his

mistake the rough sailor burst into tears, and prayed the next shot

might strike him. The pirates then threw their captain overboard, with

all his arms and ornaments, as he had often requested in his life.

When Roberts fell the men deserted their quarters and fell into a

torpor, till their mainmast being shot away compelled them to surrender.

Some of the crew lit matches and tried to blow up the magazine, but the

rest prevented them. The black flag, crushed under the fallen mast, they

had no time to destroy.

The _Royal Fortune_ was found to have forty guns and 157 men, forty-five

of them being negroes. Only three were killed in the action, and the

_Swallow_ did not lose a man. She had upwards of L2000 of gold dust in

her. From the other vessel the same quantity was embezzled by an English

captain, who sailed away before the _Swallow_ arrived.

The prisoners were mutinous under restraint, and cursed and upbraided

each other for the folly that had brought them into that trap. For fear

of an outbreak they were manacled and shackled in the gun-room, which

was strongly barricaded, and officers with pistol and cutlass placed to

guard it night and day.

The pirates laughed at the short commons, and swore they should be too

light to hang. Those who read and prayed were sneered at by the others.

"Give me hell," said one blasphemer; "it is a merrier place than heaven,

and at my entrance I'll give Roberts a salute of thirteen guns." The

whole of the prisoners made a formal complaint against "the wretch with

a prayer-book," as a common disturber.

A few of the more violent conspired, having loosened their shackles, to

rise, kill the officers, and run away with the ship. A mulatto boy who

attended them, conveyed messages from one to the other, but the very

evening of the outbreak two prisoners heard the whispers, and warned

the officers. They were then treated rougher, and heavier chains put on.

The negroes and surgeon on board the other ship also contrived a

conspiracy, the surgeon knowing a little of the Ashantee language. They

were betrayed by a traitor, all re-chained, and brought to Cape Corso

castle to be tried. Here they grew chapfallen, forgot to jest, and

begged for good books. Some joined in prayers, and others sang psalms.

Brawny, sunburnt, scarred men were seen spelling out hymns, and, through

the blood-red haze of a thousand crimes, trying with moistened eyes to

look back to calm Sunday evenings when fond mothers had first taught

them the words of long since forgotten prayers.

When the ropes were fitting only one appeared dejected, and he had been

ill with a flux. A surgeon of the place was charitable enough to offer

himself as chaplain, and represented to them the urgent need of

repentance and the tender forgiveness of a Saviour. They hardly listened

to him, but some begged caps of the soldiers, for the sun was burning

on their bare heads. Others asked for a single draught of water. When

they were pressed to speak of religion, they burst into curses, and

imprecated vengeance on their judge and jury, saying they were hung as

poor rogues, but many worse escaped because they were rich.

He then implored them to be in charity with all the world, and asked

their names and ages. They said, "What is that to you? we suffer the

law, and shall give no account but to God." One cursed a woman in the

crowd for coming to see him hung, and another laughed at their tying his

hands behind him, "for he had seen many a good fellow hung, but never

that done before." A third said, the sooner the better, so he might get

out of pain.

Nine others showed much penitence. One obtained a short reprieve, and

devoted it to prayer, singing the thirty-first Psalm at the foot of the

gallows. Another (the deserter) exhorted the seamen to a good life, and

sang a psalm. The next instant a gun was fired, and he swung from the

fore-yard-arm. Bunce, the youngest of them all, made a pathetic speech,

and begged forgiveness of God and all mankind. Seeing the gallows

standing on a rock above the sea, he took a last look at the element

which he had so often braved, and saying, he stood "as a beacon on a

rock to warn mariners of danger," was turned off by the hangman.

CAPTAIN WORLY, the next adventurer, embarked in an open boat, with eight

other men, from New York in 1718, captured a shallop up the Delaware

river, and soon took many other vessels, pursuing an English cruiser

from Sandy Hook. He had now twenty-five men and six guns, and his crew

had taken an oath to receive no quarter. While careening in an inlet in

North Carolina he was attacked by two government sloops. These cruisers

boarded him on either side, and the pirates fought so desperately that

only the captain and another man were taken prisoners, and being much

wounded were hung the next day for fear they should die, and the law not

have its due.

Captain GEORGE LOWTHER was originally second mate on board a vessel

carrying soldiers to a fort of the Royal African Company's on the river

Gambia, the very one that had been destroyed by Davis. Captain Massey,

who commanded these men, offended at the arrogance of the merchants,

plotted with Lowther, who had been ill-treated by his captain, to run

away with the vessel. They then started as pirates--their vessel, the

_Delivery_, having fifty men and sixteen guns. The worthy partners soon

quarrelled, Massey knowing nothing of the sea and Lowther nothing of the

land. Massey wished to land with thirty men and attack the French in

Hispaniola, but Lowther refused his consent; and when Lowther resolved

to scuttle a ship, Massey interposed in its behalf. Massey, soon after

this, being put on board a prize with ten malcontents, gave himself up

at Jamaica, and was sent to cruise in search of his old partner. Massey

wrote to the African Company, and prayed to be forgiven, or at least

shot as a soldier, and not hung as a pirate. He then came to London,

gave himself up, and was soon after hung.

Off Hispaniola Lowther captured two vessels--one of them a Spaniard, the

crew of which, in consideration of their being also pirates, and having

just boarded an English ship, were drifted off in their own launch, but

the English sailors were enrolled in their own crew. They then put into

a key, cleaned, and spent some time in revelry. Starting again about

Christmas, at the Grand Caimanes they met with a small pirate vessel,

commanded by a captain named Low, who now became Lowther's lieutenant.

The old ship they sank, and soon after attacked a Boston vessel, the

_Greyhound_, which, though only 200 tons, refused to bring to in answer

to Lowther's gun, and held out for an hour before she struck her ensign,

seeing resistance hopeless. The pirates whipped, beat, and cut these men

cruelly, and at last set fire to their vessel, and left them to burn and

perish. They soon after burnt and sank several New England sloops; a

vessel of Jamaica they generously sent back to her master, and two

other vessels they fitted up for their own use, mounting one with eight

carriage and ten swivel guns.

With this little fleet, Admiral Lowther, in the _Happy Delivery_, went

to the gulf of Matique to careen, carrying ashore all their sails and

stores, and putting them in tents on the beach. While the ships,

however, were on the keel, and the men busy heaving, scrubbing, and

tallowing, they were attacked by a large body of the natives. Burning

the _Happy Delivery_, their largest ship, and leaving all their stores

behind, they then turned one sloop adrift, and all embarked in the

other, the _Ranger_. This disaster, and the shortness of provisions,

soon produced mutiny and mutual recrimination.

In May 1721 they went to the West Indies, capturing a brigantine, which

they plundered and sank, and then started for New England. Low and

Lowther always quarrelling, at last parted, Low taking forty-four hands

in the brigantine, and leaving the same number in the sloop to Lowther.

The latter for some time captured nothing but fishing vessels, and a

New England ship with a cargo of sugar from Barbadoes. Off the coast of

South Carolina, being pursued by an English vessel that he had

imprudently attacked, he was driven on shore in his attempts to escape.

The English captain, in attempting to board, was shot, and his mate

declined the combat. The pirate sloop soon put again to sea, but much

shattered, and with many of the crew killed and wounded. The winter Low

spent in repairing, in an inlet of North Carolina, where his men pitched

tents, and lived on the wild cattle they shot in the woods, while in

very cold nights they slept on board the ship.

After a cruise round Newfoundland the pirates sailed for the West

Indies, and put into a creek in the island of Blanco, not far from

Tortuga, to careen. Here they were attacked by the _Eagle_ sloop of

Barbadoes, belonging to the South Sea Company. She fired a gun first to

make Lowther show his colours, and then boarded. Lowther and twelve of

his crew made their escape out of a cabin window after their vessel had

struck. The master of the _Eagle_, with twenty-five men, spent five

days in search of the fugitives, and, capturing eight only of them,

returned to Cumana.

The Spanish governor applauding the _Eagle_ condemned the sloop, and

sent a small vessel with twenty-five hands to scour the patches of

_lignum vitae_ trees that covered the low level island, and took four

pirates, but Lowther and three men and a boy still escaped. It is

supposed he then destroyed himself, as he was found soon after by some

sailors dead, beside a bush, with a burst pistol by his side. Of his

companions nine were hung at St. Christopher's, two pardoned, and five

acquitted; four the Spaniards condemned to slavery for life, three to

the galleys, and the others to the Castle of Arraria.

Captain Spriggs was another of this same gang, having been quartermaster

to Lowther. In 1723 Spriggs, with eighteen men, sailed by night from the

coast of Guinea, in the _Delight_ (a man-of-war) taken by Low, for they

had quarrelled as to the punishment of a pirate who had murdered

another. Low was for mercy and Spriggs for the yard-arm.

They then chose Spriggs captain, hoisted the black flag, and fired all

their guns to honour his inauguration. In their voyage to the West

Indies they plundered a Portuguese bark, tortured the crew, set them

adrift in a boat with a small quantity of provisions, and then burnt the

vessel. The crew of a Barbadoes sloop they cut and beat for refusing to

serve with them, and turned them off like the Portuguese. They next

rummaged a logwood ship from Jamaica, cut the cable, broke the windows,

destroyed the cabins, and when the mate refused to go with them, every

man in the vessel gave him ten lashes, which they called "writing his

discharge" in red letters flaring on his back. George the Second's

birthday they spent in roaring out healths, shouting, and drinking,

expecting that there would be an amnesty at his accession, and vowing,

if they were excepted, to murder every Englishman they met. They next

gave chase to a vessel (supposed to be a Spaniard), till the crew made a

lamentable cry for quarter, and they discovered it was the logwood

vessel they had turned off three days before, not worth a penny. Enraged

at this, fifteen of them flew at the captain and cut him down, though

his mate, who had joined the pirates, interceded for his life. It being

midnight, and nearly all, as usual at such an hour, drunk, it was

unanimously agreed to make a bonfire of the Jamaica ship. They then

called the bleeding captain down into the cabin to supper, and made him,

with a sword and pistol at his breast, eat a dish of candles, treating

all the crew in the same way. Twenty days afterwards they landed the

captain and a passenger on a desert island in the Bay of Honduras,

giving them powder, ball, and one musket. Here they supported life for

fifteen days, till two marooned sailors coming in a canoe paddled them

to another island, where they got food and water. Espying a sloop at

sea, they made a great smoke and were taken off after nineteen days'

more suffering. Spriggs, while laying wait to take his revenge on the

_Eagle_, was pursued by a French man-of-war from Martinique, and then

went to Newfoundland to obtain more men and attack Captain Harris, who

had lately taken another pirate vessel. Of their future fate we hear

nothing. Let us hope they sailed on till they reached Gallows Point and

there anchored.

JOHN GOW was one of the crew of an Amsterdam galley, who in 1724, in a

voyage to Barbary, plotted to murder the captain and seize the vessel.

Having first cut his throat they tried to throw him overboard, but as he

grappled with them Gow and the second mate and gunner shot him through

the body. They then murdered the chief mate and the clerk, who was

asleep in his hammock; the latter, handing the key of his chest, begged

for time to say his prayers, but a sailor shot him as he knelt, with a

pistol that burst as he fired.

The murders being over, one of the red-handed men came on deck, and,

striking a gun with his cutlass, cried "You are welcome, Captain Gow, to

your new command." Gow then swore that if any whispered together or

refused to obey orders, they should go the same way as those that had

just gone. They plundered a French fruit vessel and some others, but

were soon after stranded on the Orkney coast, where they had intended to

clean, were apprehended by a gentleman named Fea, and brought up to

London.

Gow obstinately refusing to plead, his thumbs were tied with whipcord

till they broke. As he still remained silent he was ordered by the

Draconic law of those days to be pressed to death. When the preparations

were completed Gow's courage failed him, he sullenly pleaded not guilty,

and was soon after, with nine of his crew at the same time, executed.

Captain WEAVER, of the _Good Fortune_, brigantine, which had taken some

sixty sail off the banks of Newfoundland, on his return from thence came

to Bristol, and passed himself off as a sailor who had escaped from

pirates, walking openly about the town. Here he was met by a captain

whom he had once plundered, and who invited him to share a bottle in a

neighbouring tavern, telling him he had been a great sufferer by the

loss of his ship, but that for four hogsheads of sugar he would never

mention the affair again. Unable to obtain this compensation he arrested

Weaver, who was soon after hung.

Captain EDWARD LOW, our last commodore, was originally a London thief,

the head of a gang of Westminster boys, and a gambler among the footmen

in the lobby of the House of Commons. One of his brothers was the first

thief who stole wigs by dressing as a porter, and carrying a boy on his

head in a covered basket. He ended his days at Tyburn.

Low was originally a logwood cutter at Honduras, but quarrelling with

his captain, and attempting his life, put off to sea with twelve

companions, and taking a sloop, hoisted a black flag, and declared war

against the world. Of his adventures with Lowther we have already made

mention. In May, 1722, while off Rhode Island, the governor ordered a

drum to beat up for volunteers, and fitted out two sloops with 140 men

to pursue him, but Low contrived to escape, and soon after running into

Port Rosemary, seized thirteen vessels at one stroke, arming a schooner

of ten guns for his own use, putting eighty men on board, and calling

her the _Fancy_. He was soon after beaten off by two armed sloops from

Boston. Low waiting too long for his consort, a brigantine, to come up,

in steering for the Leeward Islands, they were overtaken by a dreadful

storm, the same which drowned 400 people at Jamaica, and nearly

destroyed the town of Port Royal. The pirates escaped by dint of

throwing over all their plunder and six of their guns, and put into one

of the Caribbees to refit, buying provisions of the natives. In this

storm it was that forty sail of ships were cast away in Port Royal

harbour.

Once refitted, Low sailed into St. Michael's road, and took seven sail,

threatening with present death all who dared to resist. Being without

water, he sent to the governor demanding some, and declaring that if

none were sent he would burn all his prizes. On the governor's

compliance he released six, and fitted up the seventh for himself.

Another one they burnt. The crews they compelled to join them, all but

one French cook, who was so fat that they said he would fry well. They

then bound him to the mast, and allowed him to burn with the ship. The

crew of another galley they cruelly cut and mangled, and two Portuguese

friars they tied up to the yard-arm, pulling them up and down till they

were dead. A Portuguese passenger looking sorrowfully on at these

brutalities, one of the pirates cried out that he did not like his

looks, and cut open his belly with his cutlass, so that he fell down

dead. Another of the men, cutting at a prisoner, slashed Low across the

upper lip, so as to lay the teeth bare. The surgeon was called to stitch

up the wound, but the medical man being drunk, Low cursed him for his

bungling. He replied by striking Low a blow in the mouth that broke the

stitches, telling him to sew up his chops himself.

Off Madeira, they seized a fishing boat, and obtained water by a threat

of hanging the fishermen. While careening at the Cape Verd Islands,

after making many prizes, Low sent a sloop to St. Michael's in search

of two vessels, but his crew were seized and condemned to slavery for

life.

In careening his other ship, it was lost, and Low had now to fall back

on his old schooner, the _Fancy_, which he sailed in with a hundred men.

Proceeding to the West Indies, they captured, after some resistance, a

rich Portuguese vessel called the _Nostra Signora de Victoria_, bound

home from Bahia. Several of the crew they tortured till they confessed

that during the chase their captain had hung a bag of 11,000 moidors out

of the cabin window, and when the ship was taken dropped it into the

sea. The pirates, in a fury at this, cut off his lips, broiled them

before his face, and then murdered him and thirty-two of his crew. In

the next month they seized four vessels, burning all those from New

England.

In the Bay of Honduras Low boarded a Spanish sloop of six guns and

seventy men, that had that morning captured five English vessels.

Finding out this from the prisoners in the hold, these butchers

proceeded to destroy the whole crew, plunging among them with

pole-axes, swords, and pistols. Some leaped into the hold and others

into the sea. Twelve escaped to shore: the rest were knocked on the head

in the water. While the pirates were carousing on land, one wounded

wretch, fainting with his wounds, came to them and begged in God's name

for quarter, upon which a brutal sailor replied, he would give him good

quarters, and, forcing him down on his knees, ran the muzzle of his gun

down his throat, and shot him. They then burnt the vessel, and forced

the English prisoners to return to New York, and not to Jamaica.

Hating all men of New England, Low cut off the ears of a gentleman of

that nation, and tied burning matches between the fingers of some other

prisoners. The crew of a whaler he whipped naked about the deck, and

made the master eat his own ears with pepper and salt.

On one occasion, the captain of a Virginian vessel refusing to pledge

him in a bowl of punch, he cocked a pistol and compelled him to drain

the whole quart. Off South Carolina, his consort was taken by a

cruiser, but Low basely deserting him, escaped, and off Newfoundland

took eighteen ships, and in July, 1723, he fitted up a prize called the

_Merry Christmas_, with thirty-four guns, and assumed the title of

admiral, hoisting a black flag, with the figure of death in red. At St.

Michael he cut out of the road a London vessel of fourteen guns, which

the men refused to defend. The ears of the captain Low cut off, for

daring to attempt resistance, and giving him a boat to escape in, burnt

his ship.

He then visited the Canaries, Cape de Verd Islands, and lastly, the

coast of Guinea. At Sierra Leone he captured the _Delight_, of twelve

guns, which he supplied with sixteen guns, and sixty men, appointing

Spriggs, his quartermaster, as captain, who two days after deserted him,

and sailed for the West Indies.

Of the end of this detestable monster we know nothing, but if there is

any truth in old adages, he could not have well perished by a mere

storm.

The best account of a pirate's life extant is to be found in Captain

Roberts's Narrative of the Loss of his Vessel in 1721, preserved in

Astley's amusing Collection of Voyages, four dusty quartos, that contain

a mine of "auld warld" information.

This Captain Roberts, it appears, contracted with some London merchants

to go to Virginia, to fit out a sloop, named the _Dolphin_, with a cargo

"to slave with" on the coast of Guinea, and then to return to trade at

Barbadoes. Arriving at that island, in 1722, he was discharged, and upon

that bought the _Margaret_ sloop, and started again for the African

coast. At Curisal he turned up to procure a supply of wood and water,

and the next morning after his arrival, it being calm as day broke, he

looked out and espied three sail of ships off the bay, and making one of

them plain with his glass, observed that she was full built and loaded,

and supposed that she and her companions wanted water, as they first

brought to, then edged away without making any signals.

As soon as the day broke clean and they made his ship, one of them

stood right in towards her, and as the sun rose and the wind freshened,

tacked more to the eastward. As she drew nigher, Roberts found her by

his glass to be a schooner full of hands, all in white shirts; and when

he saw a whole tier of great guns grinning through the port-holes, he

began to suspect mischief. But it was now too late to escape, as it held

calm within the bay, and the three ships came crowding in as fast as the

wind, flaunting out an English ensign, jack, and pendant. Roberts then

hoisted his ensign. The first of the three that arrived had 8 guns, 6

patereroes, 70 men, and stretching ahead hailed him. Roberts said he was

of London, and came from Barbadoes. They answered, with a curse, that

they knew that, and made him send a boat on board.

The pirate captain, John Lopez, a Portuguese, who passed himself off as

John Russel, an Englishman, from the north country, asked them where

their captain was. They pointed him out Roberts, walking the deck. He

instantly called out, "You dog, you son of a gun, you speckled shirt

dog!" for Roberts had just turned out, wore a speckled Holland shirt,

and was slipshod, without stockings. Roberts, afraid if he showed

contempt by continued silence they would put a ball through him, thought

it best to answer, and cried "Holloa!" upon which Russel said, "You dog

you, why did you not come aboard with the boat? I'll drub you within an

inch of your life, and that inch too."

Roberts meekly replied that only the boat being commanded aboard, he did

not think he had been wanted, but if they would please to send the boat,

he would wait upon him. "Ay, you dog you," said the Portuguese, "I'll

teach you better manners." Upon this eight of the pirates boarded, and

took possession of the ship, and as soon as Roberts came alongside, the

pirate began again to threaten to drub him for daring to affront him;

and when he declared he meant no offence, cried out, "D--n you, you dog,

don't stand there to chatter, come aboard," and stood with a cutlass

ready drawn to receive him. While still hesitating, the gunner, who

wore a gold-laced hat, looked over the side, and said, "Come up, master,

you shan't be abused." When he got up, the pirate raised his sabre as if

to cut him down, asking what a dog deserved for not coming aboard when

the boat was first sent. Roberts replied, if he had done amiss, it was

through ignorance, as he did not know what they were. "Curse you," said

the pirate, "who do you think we are?" Roberts now trembled for fear,

for having once been captured by pirates at Newfoundland, he knew--one

wrong word and the knife was at his throat. After a short pause, he

said, "I believed you were gentlemen of fortune belonging to the sea."

At this the Portuguese, a little pacified, said, "You lie, we are

pirates."

After vapouring for some time, the pirate asked, in a sneering tone, why

Roberts had not put on his clothes to visit gentlemen. Roberts replied,

that he did not know of the visit when he dressed, and, besides, came in

such a fright on account of their threats, that he had very little

thought or stomach to change clothes, still, if it would please them to

grant him the liberty, he would go and put on better clothes, hoping it

was not yet too late. "D--n you," said the pirate, "yes, it is too late;

what clothes you took you shall keep, but your sloop and what is in her

is ours." Roberts said, he perceived it was, but hoped, as he lay at

their mercy, they would be so generous as to take only what they had

occasion for and leave him the rest.

The Portuguese said, "that was a company business, and he could say

nothing about that yet." He then bade him give an account of his cargo

and money, and of everything aboard his sloop, for if upon rummaging

they found the least article concealed, they would burn the vessel and

him in her. The pirates standing by also begged him to make a full

discovery of all money, arms, and ammunition, which were the chief

things they sought after, for it was their way to punish liars and

concealers very severely. Roberts then drew up an account from memory,

and asked to see his ship's papers that he might complete it. Russel

said, "No, he would take care of the papers, and if anything was found

missing in the inventory he must look out for squalls." During this time

the pirates were rummaging the sloop, but found nothing but a ring and a

pair of silver buckles not inserted in the list.

During the capture a Portuguese priest and six black fishermen, taken on

board at the Isle of Sal, who had been sent on shore, escaped to the

hills. Russel, seeing them, told Roberts that he had captured the

fishing sloop to which the fugitives belonged, but one of his gang had

run away with it, carrying off L800 in cash, in addition. Russel then

slipped cable and made Roberts pilot them to Paraghisi, in company with

their other vessel, the _Rose Pink_, of thirty-six guns, commanded by

Edmund Loe, their commodore. At Paraghisi they landed thirty-five men

and captured the fugitive priest, five negroes, and the old governor's

son. Russel on his return was received with great ceremony by his

commander, the gunner acting as master of the ceremonies and presenting

Roberts.

Captain Loe welcomed him aboard with the usual compliments, "It's not my

desire, captain," he said, "to meet with any of my countrymen (but

rather foreigners), excepting some few whom I want to chastise for their

roguishness; but, however, since fortune has ordered it so that you have

fallen into our hands, I would have you be of good cheer and not cast

down."

Roberts replied, "I am very sorry, sir, that I chanced to fall in your

way, but I feel I am still in the hands of gentlemen of honour and

generosity, in whose power it is still to make my capture no

misfortune."

Loe said, "It does not lie singly in my breast, for all business of this

nature is determined by a majority of votes in the whole company, and

though neither I nor, I believe, any of the rest desire to meet with any

of our nation, yet when we do it cannot well be avoided to take as our

own what Providence sends us; and, as we are gentlemen who depend

entirely on fortune, we durst not be so ungrateful to her as to despise

any of her favours, however mean, for fear that she might withdraw her

hand and leave us to perish for lack of those very things we had

slighted."

After this philosophical utterance, the great man, who sat astride on a

great gun, and not, like other potentates, in a chair of state, without

moving from his place, begged Roberts, with much condescension, to make

himself at home, requesting to know what he would drink. The

broken-spirited man, still trembling for his life, replied, "He did not

care then much for drinking, but out of a sense of the honour they did

him in asking he would drink anything he chose." Loe told him "Not to be

cast down, it was the fortune of war: d----, sir, care killed the cat,

and fretting thinned the blood and was d---- bad for the health. To

please the company he should be brisk and cheerful and he would soon

have better fortune."

He then rang the bell and bade one of the _valets de cabin_ bring in a

bowl of punch. This was brought and mixed in a rich silver bowl holding

two gallons. He then called for some wine, and two bottles of claret

being brought, Roberts sipped at the claret while Loe drained the bowl

with his usual philosophy and contentment. As he grew warm with the

fragrant draught, he told Roberts that he was a d----d good fellow, and

he would do him all the favours he could, but wished he had had the good

fortune to have been captured ten days earlier, when they had taken two

Portuguese outward bound Brazilmen, laden with cloth, woollens, hats,

silk, and iron, for he believed he could have prevailed on his company

to have loaded Roberts's ship. "But now unfortunately," he added, as he

put down the empty bowl, "they had no goods at all, having flung all the

Brazil stuffs into David Jones's locker (the sea). He did not know,

however, but he might meet Roberts again (such things did come round),

and then if it lay in his way he would make Roberts a return for his

loss, for he might depend on his readiness to serve him as far as his

power or interest could reach." To this outburst of sympathy Roberts

replied by bowing and sipping his unrelished glass of claret.

While they were talking word was brought that Quartermaster-General

Russel had arrived with the prisoners, and the commodore, ordering the

empty bowl to be removed, bade them come in. Russel, the chief officers,

and the prisoners then crowded into the cabin, and to the question of

"How goes the game?" Russel gave an account of his expedition. On

landing they had at once seized two blacks, who had been sent by the

governor as heralds, and used them as guides. Though the road was uneven

and rocky they reached the town, twelve miles distant, that night,

surprising the governor and priest. Russel told them, that hearing they

had great stores of dollars hoarded up, he had come to share it with

them, as it was one rule of his trade to keep money moving and

circulation brisk. The priest said they had none, and the island was

barren and uncultivated. Russel said he had only two senses, seeing and

feeling, which could convince him the information was false. The priest

then lit a number of consecrated wax-candles, and allowed them to

search. They found, however, nothing but twenty dollars, which he did

not think worth taking. The men then lay down to sleep, keeping their

arms loaded and their pistols slung, and setting a watch. The next

morning he carried the prisoners to the boats.

Upon this tame conclusion, Loe, who had been sitting patient and quiet

as a judge, started up and said, interrupting Russel, "Zounds! what

satisfaction is this to me or the company? We did not want these black

fools, d----n them! No, we wanted their money, and if they had none,

they might have stayed ashore or gone to the devil."

Russel, nettled at this rebuke, replied fiercely, "I have as much

interest in getting the money as any of the company, and did as much to

find it: I don't believe there was more than we saw, and that wouldn't

have been sixpence a head, a trifle not worth having our name called in

question for. For my part, I am for something that is worth taking, and

if I can't light on such, I never will give the world occasion to say

that I am a poor sneaking rogue and mean-spirited fellow. No, I will rob

for something of value, or not at all, especially among these people,

where, if our company breaks, we may look for a place of refuge; and I

boldly affirm that it is a fool's act to draw on us their odium by such

peddling thefts, that would be by all men accounted a narrow-souled,

beggarly action, and would be cursed to all futurity by this fraternity,

who might suffer for its effects."

Captain Loe, abashed by the murmur of approval that followed this

speech, said, "it was all very true, and carried a deal of reason with

it, that he was satisfied with Russel's judgment and courage in the

affair; but come," says he, "let us do nothing rashly"--and filling a

bumper, drank to Russel, wishing Roberts better success in his next

voyage.

Russel then went on shore again, and, finding the priest had escaped to

the mountains, told the governor, an old negro, that he should burn the

town to ashes if he was not brought in in three hours' time. The

governor said the thing was impossible, that he lay at their mercy, and

hoped he would not destroy the innocent for the guilty. Russel declared

the doom should not be deferred, but promised the priest should not be

killed if he surrendered himself. While parties of blacks were on the

hunt, Russel ordered an ox to be roasted for his men, and a pipe of wine

to be broached; and on the priest being captured, treated all the

natives at their Christian minister's expense, leaving him to extract it

from them again in tithes.

The priest and governor, when they heard they were to be taken on board,

to assure Loe of their poverty, prayed not to be detained as slaves.

Russel told them he was a Catholic, and no harm should be done them.

They were soon afterwards released. Loe then ordered a hammock for

Roberts, till his own and ship's fate were decreed by the company,

telling him generously, in language rather metaphorical than strictly

accurate, that everything in the ship was at his command, and begging

him not to vary his usual course of hours, drinking, or company. Next

morning about eight, as Roberts was pacing unemployed and melancholy on

the deck, three pirates came up to him, and said that they had once

sailed with him on board the _Susannah_, in 1718. They expressed sorrow

for his ill luck, and promised to do something for him. They said they

had fifty pieces of white linens, and eight of silk, and that when the

company had agreed to restore him his ship, they would make interest to

load it. Then looking about as if wishing to tell him a secret, and

seeing the deck clear, which it seldom was in pirate vessels, with much

concern they informed him that if he did not take abundance of care, he

would be forced to stay with them, for their mate had found that he knew

the coast of Brazil, whither they were bound after they had scoured that

of Guinea, and they would take him as pilot. Then enjoining him to

secresy (for their lives depended upon it), they said they had been in

close consultation as to his fate, and had almost agreed to take him as

a forced prisoner. They had praised him as kind to his men, and a good

paymaster, and, knowing the pirate law that no married man could be

forced to join their ships, swore at a hazard that he was married, and

had four children. His mate had turned informer, but he was as yet

ignorant of their articles, which they never showed till they were

signed. His only chance of escape was to keep up to their story. Russel,

one of the council, had been in favour of breaking through the law in

this special case, and keeping Roberts at all events till they could

catch another guide, but Loe was opposed to it, telling them it would be

an ill precedent and of bad consequence, for that if once they took the

liberty of breaking their articles and oath, nothing would be sure. They

added that most of the company being of Loe's opinion, Russel was vexed

and determined if possible to break the articles.

Soon after they were gone, Loe came on deck, and bidding him good

morrow, with many compliments, ordered the flag, the signal for

consultation, to be hoisted. This they called "the green trumpeter," and

was a green silk flag, with the figure of a trumpeter in yellow, and

hoisted on the mizen peak. Upon this all came on board to breakfast,

crowding both cabin and steerage.

After breakfast Loe asked Roberts, as if casually, if he was married and

had children. The latter answered he had five and perhaps six, for one

was on the stocks when he came away. He then asked him, if he had left

them well provided for. Roberts replied, he had left his wife in such

indifferent circumstances, having met with recent misfortunes, that the

greater part of his substance was in that ship and cargo, and if that

failed they would want even for bread.

Loe then turned to Russel and said, "It won't do, Russel."

"What won't do?" replied the quartermaster.

"You know what I mean," said Loe; "it must not and it shall not be,

by----"

"It must and shall be, by----" replied Russel; "'Self-preservation is

the first law of nature,' and 'Necessity knows no law,' says the adage."

"Well," says Loe, "it shall never be by my consent."

The rest of the company then declared it was a pity, and ought to be

seriously weighed and put to the vote. Loe said, indeed it ought, and

that there was no time like the present to determine the matter. The

rest all cried, "Ay, it is best to end it now." Loe then ordered all

hands upon deck, and bade Roberts stay in the cabin.

In about two hours (awful hours for Roberts, to sit listening for shouts

or cries), Loe came down, and asked him how he did. Russel said, with a

frown, "Master, your sloop is very leaky."

Roberts replied it was, wishing to depreciate its value.

"Leaky," said Russel, "I don't know what you could do with her if we

gave her you, for all your hands now belong to us." Russel then

continued to taunt him for his want of cargo and provision, as if to

give a keener edge to his misery.

At last, "Come, come," said Loe, "let us toss the bowl about, and call a

fresh course."

They then proceeded to carouse and talk of their past transactions at

Newfoundland, the Western Islands, the Canaries, &c., and at dinner

tore their food one from the other, thinking such ferocity looked

martial.

Next morning one of the three men contrived to speak to Roberts, and

apologized for his caution, as they had an article making it death to

hold any secret correspondence with a prisoner. He then informed him

that his own mate was his great enemy, and seemed likely to turn rogue

and enter with them, leaving him only a boy and a child to manage the

sloop. Both he and his companions heartily wished to join him, but found

it would be death even to mention it, as they had an article that any of

the company advising or merely speaking of separation should be shot to

death by the quartermaster's order, without even court-martial. Russel

had been Roberts' friend till the mate had told him of his captain's

knowledge of Brazil, and had even planned a gathering for him nearly

equal in value to what they had taken, for it was a custom in pirate

vessels to keep a spare stock of linen, silk, gold lace, and clothes, to

give to any prisoner whom they took a liking to or had known before.

Loe was his friend, the sailor assured him, but that he could do little

against Russel, who had really more power and sway than anyone else.

Some time after this man left him, Captain Loe turned out, and, passing

the usual compliments, sent for some rum, and discoursed on many

indifferent subjects. Upon all of these Roberts was obliged to appear

interested, dreading this sea-despot's displeasure. Perhaps a

button-holder, like this Trunnion, never had so attentive an auditor, or

so hearty an applauder of anecdotes, good or bad.

About ten o'clock Russel, the evil genius, came on board, and accosted

Roberts in an agreeable manner, trying to conciliate him into consenting

to his proposal. He said, he had been considering Roberts's scheme, and

did not see how he could carry it through. He believed Roberts was a man

of understanding, but in this case was directed by sheer desperation

rather than reason. For his part he did not think it would stand with

the credit or reputation of the company to put it into his power to

throw himself wilfully away, as he seemed determined to do. Wishing him

indeed well, he had been thinking all night upon a scheme which, without

exposing him to danger, would turn out more to his advantage than

anything he could expect by getting the sloop. (Here Roberts's eye

brightened.) He had resolved to sink or burn the sloop, and detain

Roberts as a prisoner, all the company promising to give him the first

prize they took, or to allow him to join their crew. This would be the

making of him, and enable him to soon leave off sea, and live ashore if

he were so inclined.

Roberts thanked him, but said he thought he should gather no advantage

from such a plan, for he could not dispose of a ship or cargo without a

lawful power to sell, and if the owners heard of it, he should be either

obliged to make restitution, or be thrown into prison, and run the

hazard of his own life.

Russel replied that his objections were frivolous, and could easily be

evaded. To avoid detection, they would make him a bill of sale, and

give him powers in writing that would answer any inquiry. As for the

owners, they would take care from the ship's writings, which they always

first seized, to let him know who were the owners of the cargo, and

where they lived. These writings should be made in a false name, which

Roberts could assume till all were sold.

Roberts said there was abundant address in his contrivance and much

plausibility in the whole. But were he even sure that all would turn out

well, he had a still stronger motive than any he had yet mentioned, and

that was his dread of the continual sting and accusation of his

conscience. He then with more courage than he had hitherto shown, began

to expatiate on the duty of restitution, and tried to awaken his hearers

to some sense of the sin of piracy.

Many said, with a laugh, he would do well to preach a sermon, and would

make a good chaplain. Others shouted that they wanted no preaching

there. "Pirates had no god but money, no saviour but their muskets." A

few approved of what he said, and declared that if a little goodness,

or at least rude humanity, was in practice among them, their reputation

would be a little better both with God and man.

A short silence followed, which captain Russel broke by employing some

Jesuitical sophistry, to persuade Roberts that it would be no sin for

him merely to accept what they had stolen, since he had no hand in the

theft, and was their constrained prisoner. "Suppose," he said, "we

should still resolve to sink or burn your sloop, unless you will accept

of her. Now, where I pray, is the owner's property when the ship is sunk

or burnt. I think the impossibility of his ever having her again cuts it

off to all intents and purposes, and our power was the same,

notwithstanding our giving her to you, if we had thought fit to make use

of it."

Loe and the rest here burst out laughing, declared it was as good as a

play to hear the two argue, and that Roberts was a match for Russel,

though few could generally stand up to him in a fight with mere words.

Roberts not allowing this praise to over-balance his prudence, would

not drive Russel further, seeing him vexed at their applause. He merely

said that he knew he was absolutely in their power to dispose of as they

pleased, but that having hitherto been treated so generously by them, he

could not doubt of their future goodness to him. That if they would

please to give him his sloop again, it was all he requested at their

hands, and that, he doubted not, by his honest endeavours he should be

able to retrieve his present loss.

Upon this Captain Loe said, "Gentlemen, the master, I must needs say,

has spoke nothing but what I think is very reasonable, and I think he

ought to have his sloop. What do you say, gentlemen?" The majority cried

out with one voice, "Ay, ay, by G---- let the poor man have his sloop

again, and go in God's name and seek a living in her for his family."

In the evening Russel insisted on treating Roberts on board his own

schooner before his departure. All passed off well till after supper,

when a bowl of punch and half a dozen of claret were put on the table.

The captain first took a bumper, wishing success to the undertaking, and

this toast passed round, Roberts not daring to refuse to drink. The next

health was, "Prosperity to our trade." The third, "Health to the King of

France." Russel then proposed "The King of England's health," and all

drank it, some repeating his words, others saying, "the aforesaid

health." Just before it came to Roberts, Russel poured two bottles of

claret into the punch, and his prisoner disliking this mixture, begged

to pledge the health in a bumper of claret.

At this heresy, Russel, who had laid his trap, flew into a passion,

"D----" he said, "you shall drink in your turn a full bumper of that

sort of liquor the company does." "Well then, gentlemen," said Roberts,

"rather than have words, I will drink, though it is in a manner poison

to me." "Curse you," said Russel; "if it be in a manner or out of a

manner, or really rank poison, you shall drink as much and as often as

anyone here, unless you fall down dead, dead."

Then Roberts, dreading a quarrel with his old enemy, took the glass,

which held about three-quarters of a pint, and filling a bumper, said,

"The aforesaid health." "What health is that?" said Russel. "Why,"

answered Roberts, "the health you have all drank--the King of England's

health." "Who is king of England?" said Russel. "In my opinion," said

Roberts, "he that wears the crown is certainly king of England." "Well,"

argued his opponent, "and who is that?" Upon his saying King George, he

swore at him, and said the English had no king. Roberts replied,

laughing, "He wondered he should begin and drink a health to a person

who was not in being." At this quip, Russel drew a pistol from his sash,

and would have shot his unoffending enemy dead, had not the gunner

snatched it out of his hand. At this Russel, who was a Roman Catholic

and a Jacobite, grew still more maddened, and fired another at Roberts,

saying, "The Pretender is the only lawful king." The master striking

down the barrel, the pistol went off without doing mischief.

High words then arose between Russel and the gunner, and the latter,

addressing the company, said, "Well, gentlemen, if you have a mind to

maintain these laws, made, established, and sworn to by us all, as I

think we are obligated by the strongest ties of reason and self-interest

to do, I assure you my opinion is that we ought to secure John Russel,

so as to prevent his breaking our constitution."

When Russel attempted, still in a passion, to defend his conduct, the

gunner declared, "That no man's life should be taken away in cold blood

till the company, under whose care he was, had so decreed it." Then

accusing him of hating Roberts, merely because he had been prevented

from breaking the articles by detaining him, he left the spot.

Russel's arms were next taken away, and Roberts, being guarded during

the night, was sent to the commodore in the morning, there being a law

among them to receive no boats aboard after nine o'clock at night.

About four in the afternoon Russel came to Loe, with Spriggs, the

commander of the other ship, and told him that Roberts's mate was

willing to join them as a volunteer. Loe said, in that case Roberts

would have no one but a child to help him; and he thought, in reason,

they could not give him less than the mate and two boys.

Russel said he could not help that, "the mate was a brisk lusty young

fellow, and had been upon the account before. He had declared he would

not go in the sloop unless forced; that when he first came to Barbadoes

his resolve had been to ship himself on board the first pirate he met

with." Loe replied, "That to give the master a vessel without men was

only putting him to a lingering death, and they had better knock him on

the head at once."

Russel replied, "as for that they might do as they pleased; he spoke for

the good of the company and according to articles, and he should like to

see or hear the man who dared to gainsay it. He was quartermaster, and

by the authority of that office should at once enter the mate, and had a

pistol and a brace of bullets for any who opposed him." Loe said he

would not argue against law and custom, but he thought if they kept the

mate they should substitute another man.

Russel said, with an oath, grinding his teeth, "No, the sloop's men were

enrolled already in his books, and he should rub no names out." Then

turning to Roberts, he added, "The company, master, has decreed you your

sloop, and you shall have her; you shall have your two boys, that's all:

but you shall have neither provisions nor anything else more than she

has now. And, as I hear some of the company design to make a gathering

for you, that also I forbid, by the authority of my office, because we

are not certain but we may have occasion ourselves for those very things

before we get more. And I swear by all that's good and bad, if I know

anything that's carried or left on board the sloop against my order, or

without my knowledge, I will set her on fire that very instant, and you

with her."

After a little more dispute and feeble and intimidated resistance to

this violence, Russel's stern resolution and heartless villany carried

the day, and about dusk they parted, each to his own ship, several

professing kindness to Roberts, but none giving him anything. When

Russel was ready, he sent Roberts into his boat, and bringing him to his

own ship, ordered supper for him, and bottles, and pipes and tobacco,

being set on the table, he invited Roberts and his officers into his

cabin.

His revenge was now accomplished and the wretch, now resolved to make

Roberts taste the tortures of death, by anticipation, addressed him with

a sneer worthy of the applause of hell.

"Captain Roberts," he said, "you are very welcome, and I pray you eat

and drink heartily, for you have as tedious a voyage to go through as

Elijah in his forty days' journey to Horeb, and, as far as I know,

without a miracle, it must be only by the strength of what you now eat,

for you shall have neither eatables nor drinkables with you in the

sloop." Roberts replied, "I hope not so," but Russel answered he would

find it certainly true.

Roberts then said, that rather than be put on board the sloop in that

manner, when there was no possibility of escaping but by a miracle, he

should be glad to be sent ashore on some island off the coast of Guinea,

or even to tarry on board till an opportunity occurred to land where he

pleased, for he would yield to anything else they should think fit to do

with him, except entering into their service.

Russel answered with an oath, the usual prelude of a pirate's harangue,

that it had been once in his power to have been his own friend, but as

he chose to slight their proffered favours, and had made that choice, he

must now take it, as all apologies were too late; and he thought he had

proved himself a better friend than Roberts could have expected, since

he had caused him to have more differences with his company than he had

ever had before.

Roberts pleaded the innocence of his intentions, and intreated Russel

and all the gentlemen present to consider him an object rather of pity

than vengeance. But his tormentor, more inexorable than a headsman,

said: "All your whining arguments, you dog, are now too late. You not

only refused our commiseration when it was offered, but ungratefully

despised it. Your lot is cast, and you have nothing to do but to go

through your chance with a good face. Fill your belly with victuals and

good drink, and strengthen yourself for three days or so, or have some

brandy and die drunk, and be happy. This is your last meal in this

world, so fail not to make the most of it. Yet, perhaps, such a

conscientious man as you pretend to be may have a miracle worked for

you, but for my own part I don't believe God himself, if there is one,

could help you. I pity the boys, and have a great mind, Roberts, to keep

them on board, and let the miracle be worked on you alone."

The master and governor said they heard the boys were willing to take

their chance with the master, let it be what it would. "Nay, then," said

Russel, "it is fit the young devils should, and I suppose the master has

made them as religious and conscientious as himself. However, master,"

he cried, "eat and drink heartily; this is your last supper, as the

priests call it, and don't try to change your allotted fate, or it may

provoke us to treat you worse."

"Gentlemen," said Roberts, with a resignation that would have touched

any other man, "I have done; you can do no more than God is pleased to

permit you, and I own for that reason I ought to take it patiently. God

forgive you." "Well, well," said Russel, "if it is done by God's

permission, you need not fear He will permit any harm to befall one of

his peculiar elect."

About ten at night, in order that darkness might add to his dismay, some

of Russel's partisans brought the sloop's boat. In answer to an inquiry

as to whether they had cleared the vessel as he had ordered, they

replied with an oath, "Ay, ay, she has nothing on board except ballast

and water." "Zounds," said Russel, stamping on the deck, "did I not bid

you stave all the casks that had water in them?" "So we have," was the

reply; "the water we mean is salt water leaked in, and now above the

ballast, for we have not pumped her, we don't know when." He asked if

they had brought away the sails. They said they had, all but the

mainsail that was bent, for the other old mainsail was so rotten it was

only fit to cut up for parcelling, and was so torn it could not be

brought to, and was past mending.

"Zounds," said Russel, "we must have it, for I want it to make us a

mainsail. The same miraculous Power that brings the rogue provisions

will bring him sails."

"What a devil! is he a conjuror?" said one.

"No, no!" replied Russel, "but he expects miracles to be wrought for

him, or he would never have chosen what he has."

"Nay, nay, if he be such a one, he will do well enough."

"But I doubt," cried another, "if he be such a mighty conjuror, for if

he was, how the devil was it that he did not conjure himself clear of

us?"

"Pish!" cried a third, "may be his conjuring books were all shut up."

"Ay," said a fourth, "now we have all his conjuration books over board,

I doubt he'll be hard put to it."

The gunner alone seemed to retain any trace of humanity, he bade Russel

take care he had not this to answer for some day when he would be sorry

for it. "Howsum-dever," he said, "you've got the company's assent, I

can't tell how, and, therefore, I shall say no more, only that I, and I

believe most of the gentlemen came here to get money, but not to kill,

except in fight, much less in cold blood, or for private revenge. And I

tell you, Jack Russel, if ever such cases as these be any more

practised, my endeavours will be to leave this company as soon as

convenient."

Russel made no answer, but ordered his men to fetch the mainsail from

the sloop. He then gave Roberts an old worm-eaten musket, a damp

cartridge, and two half pounds of tobacco "as a parting present." His

victim was then conducted with great ceremony over the side into his own

boat, and put on board with his two boys.

As their boat was putting away, Roberts thought he heard his mate's

voice, so he called to him and said, "Arthur! what, are you going to

leave me?" A voice replied, for it was pitch dark, "Ay." "What!" said

Roberts, "do you do it voluntarily, or are you forced?" He answered

faintly, "I am forced, I think!" Roberts answered "Very well." The mate

then called out and asked Roberts, if he ever had an opportunity, to

write and give his brother an account of him. Roberts asked where he

lived, and the mate replied at Carlingford, in Ireland. Now this mate

the captain had picked up at Barbadoes, a naked shipwrecked man, who had

served in a New England sloop. He had bought him clothes and

instruments, and treated him with sympathy and kindness. He was a rigid

Presbyterian, a great arguer on theological points, and a loud inveigher

against the Church of England. Although he had never before been heard

to utter an oath, as soon as Russel persuaded him to join the pirate

crew, he became constantly drunk, and outdid them all in blasphemy and

wickedness, but he had told his new companions so much of Roberts's

kindness, that but for Russel they would not have allowed him to join

them.

Next morning Roberts proceeded to rummage the sloop, and sweeping out

the bread lockers, he found about his hat crown full of biscuit crumbs,

some broken pipes, and a few screws of tobacco. They had left his

fore-staff, but took his bedding, although they generally lay upon deck,

or against a gun carriage. In the hold, the more merciful had left ten

gallons of rum in one hogshead, and thirty pounds of rice in another,

with three pints of water and a little flour, together with some needles

and twine, sufficient to repair his rotten sails. A day or two

afterwards they caught a shark, which they boiled for several dinners,

using the shark's liver, melted, for oil. He soon after reached Curisal,

obtained a negro crew, was wrecked, built a boat, and was eventually

taken home by an English ship.

Scarcely less interesting than this narrative of Roberts is that of

Captain William Snelgrave, who was engaged in the slave trade on the

Guinea coast in 1738. Having escaped one of the dreaded Salee rovers, he

was taken at Sierra Leone by Captain Cocklyn of the _Rising Sun_, a

pirate commanding three vessels and a gang of eighty men. He had been

marooned by a man named Moody, but had gradually collected men, and

captured, in a short time, ten English vessels. Moody's crew, soon after

Cocklyn's departure, disliking their captain's cruelty, put him and

twelve more in an open boat, which they had taken from the Spaniards off

the Canary Islands, and chose a Frenchman named Le Bouce as their

commander, who instantly put back and joined Cocklyn, whom they liked

because he was fierce and brutal, being resolved to have no more

gentlemanlike captains like Moody.

The next day Davis, the pirate, arrived with 150 well disciplined men,

the black flag flying at his mast head.

The evening Snelgrave entered the river, he observed a suspicious smoke

on land, but his mate said it was only travellers roasting oysters, and

it appeared afterwards that he was a traitor. On standing in for the

river's mouth, the pirate vessels appeared in sight. Towards dusk he

heard a boat approaching, so he ordered twenty men to get ready their

firearms and cutlasses. Lanterns being brought and the boat hailed, the

pirates fired a volley at the ship, being then within pistol shot

distance, a daring act for twelve men, who were attacking a ship of

sixteen guns and forty-five men.

When they began to near, the captain called out to fire from the

steerage port-holes. This not being done, he went below, and found his

people staring at each other, and declaring they could not find the arm

chest. The pirates instantly boarded, fired down the steerage, shooting

a sailor in the loins, and throwing hand grenades amongst them. On their

calling for "mercy," the quartermaster, who always headed the pirate

boarders, came down from the quarterdeck and inquired for the captain,

asking how he dared to fire. On Snelgrave saying it was his duty to

defend his ship, the quartermaster presented a pistol at his breast, but

he parried it, and the bullet passed under his arm. The wretch then

struck him on the head with the butt end, bringing him on his knees. On

his getting up and running to the quarterdeck, the pirate boatswain made

a blow at his head with his broad sword, swearing no quarter should be

offered to any captain who dared to defend his vessel. The blow missed

him, but the blade cut an inch deep in the quarterdeck rail, and there

broke. The pirate's pistols being all unloaded, he then struck at him

with the butt end of one of them till the crew cried out for his life,

and said they had never sailed with a better man. One of the crew,

however, had his chin cut off; another fell for dead on the deck. The

quartermaster who came up, told him he should be cut to pieces if his

men did not recover the pirate's boat that had run adrift. On recovering

this, he took him by the hand, and declared his life was safe if none of

his crew complained of him. The pirate then fired several vollies for

joy at their recovery, but forgetting to hail their companions, were

fired on by the other ships. When Snelgrave questioned the

quartermaster why he did not use his speaking trumpet, he asked him

angrily whether he was afraid of going to the devil by a great shot,

"for that he hoped to be sent to hell by a cannon ball some time or

other."

The pirates now prepared for dinner by cramming geese, turkeys, fowls,

and ducks, all unpicked, into the furnace, with some Westphalia hams,

and a large sow in pig, which they only bowelled, leaving the hair on.

Soon after this, a sailor came to Snelgrave to ask him what o'clock it

was, and on the captain's presenting him with his watch, laid it on the

deck, and kicked it about, saying it would make a good football. One of

the pirates then caught it up, and said it should go into the common

chest, and be sold at the mast.

Snelgrave was soon after carried on board the pirate ship. The commander

told him he was sorry for the bad usage he had met with, but it was the

fortune of war, and that if he did not answer truly every question he

would be cut into even ounces, but that if he told the truth they would

make it the best voyage he had ever taken. One of them asked if his ship

sailed well on wind, and on his saying, "Very well," Cocklyn threw up

his hat, saying she would make a brave pirate man-of-war. A tall fellow,

with four pistols in his belt, and a broadsword in his hand, then came

up and claimed him as an old schoolfellow, and told him secretly that he

was a forced man, having been mate in a Bristol vessel lately captured,

and was obliged to go armed. He told him also that at night, when the

pirates drank hard, was the time of most danger for prisoners.

A bowl of punch was then ordered, and the men, going into the great

cabin, sat on the floor cross-legged, for want of seats, drinking the

Pretender's health by the name of "King James the Third." At midnight

they gave Snelgrave a hammock, and his old schoolfellow kept guard over

him with a drawn sword, but he could not sleep for the songs and

cursing. About two o'clock the pirate boatswain came on board, and

hearing Snelgrave was asleep, declared he would slice his liver for

daring to fire at the boat, and refusing to give up his watch. Griffin

threatened to cleave him if he came nearer, and struck at him with his

sword. In the morning, when all were sober, the sentinel complained of

the boatswain for infringing the pirate law, "that no ill usage be

offered to prisoners when quarter has once been given." The crew

proposed the offender should be whipped, but Snelgrave prudently begged

him off. Soon after, his own first mate came to tell him that, being

badly off and having a scolding wife, he had joined the pirates. He

found out afterwards that he had hid the arm-chest, and dissuaded the

men from resistance.

The pirate then began to rummage the vessel, and, not caring for

anything but money, threw overboard, before night, about L4000 worth of

Indian bales. They broke up his escritoires, and destroyed his chests of

books, swearing there was "jaw work enough for a whole nation." Against

all religious books they exercised a strict censorship, for fear of any

of the crew being roused to qualms of conscience, or taking a dislike

to the profession. The wine too began to be passed freely round, and the

pirates grew merciful, and good-humouredly made up a bundle of clothes

for the prisoners. At this moment one of Davis's crew, a pert young

fellow of 18, broke open a chest for plunder, and on the quartermaster

complaining, replied "that they were all equal, and he thought he was in

the right." The quartermaster then struck at him with his sword, and

pursued him into Davis's cabin, where he thrust at him, and ran him

through the hand, wounding the captain as well. Davis vowed revenge,

saying that if his man had offended, no one had a right to punish him,

and especially in his presence. He then instantly went on board his own

ship, and bore down upon Cocklyn, who finally consented to make the

quartermaster beg pardon for his fault.

Snelgrave was sitting in the cabin with the carpenter and three or four

other pirates, when the boatswain came down very drunk, and beginning to

abuse him was turned out of the place. Soon after a puff of wind put

out the candle, and the boatswain returning, declared Snelgrave had put

it out, with the design of going into the powder-room and blowing up the

ship; and in spite of the carpenter declaring it was done by accident,

he drew a pistol and swore he would blow out the dog's brains. In rising

to blow in the candle Snelgrave and the carpenter had, unknown to the

boatswain, changed places. The pistol flashing in the pan, the carpenter

saw by the light that he must have been shot if it had gone off, and in

a rage ran in the dark to the boatswain, wrenched the pistol from his

hand and beat him till he was nearly dead. The noise alarmed the ship,

and the disturber was carried off to bed.

The next morning Davis's crew came on board to divide the wines and

liquors. They hoisted on deck a great many half hogsheads of claret and

French brandy, knocked out their heads and dipped out cans and bowls

full, throwing them at each other, and washing the decks with what was

left. The bottles they took no trouble to mark, but "nicked" them, as

they called it, by striking off their necks with a cutlass, spilling the

contents of about one in every three. The eatables were wasted in the

same way. Three drunken pirates coming into the cabin, and tumbling over

Snelgrave's bundles of clothes, threw three of the four overboard. A

fourth pirate, more sober than the rest, opened the remaining bundle,

and taking out a black suit and a wig, put them on and strutted on deck,

throwing them over in an hour when the crew had drenched him with

claret. When Snelgrave mildly expostulated with him on this robbery, he

struck him on the shoulder with the flat of his sword, whispering at the

same time a caution never to dispute the will of a pirate for fear he

might get his skull split for his impudence.

When night came on, Snelgrave had nothing left of four bundles of

clothes but a hat and a wig, and these were soon after put on by a

drunken man, who staggered into the cabin, saying he was "one of the

most respectable merchants on the African coast." As he was leaving the

room, a sailor came in and beat him severely for taking what he had no

right to, and thinking he was one of the crew. The interposer then

comforted Snelgrave, and promised to recover what he had lost, while

others of the crew brought him food.

Next day, Davis, ordering all the crews on the quarter-deck, made a

speech in Snelgrave's behalf, persuading them to give him a ship and

several thousand pounds' worth of miscellaneous plunder. One of the men

proposed they should take him with them down the Guinea coast, and if

they took a Portuguese vessel, to give him a cargo of slaves. Down the

coast he might sell his goods for gold dust, and then, sailing for St.

Thomas's, sell his ship and the slaves to the Danes, and return to

London a rich man. Snelgrave demurring to this, they grew angry,

thinking their gift would have been legal, but Davis kindly said, "I

know this man and can easily guess his thoughts, he thinks he would lose

his reputation. Now, I am for allowing everybody to go to the devil in

their own way, so beg you to give him the remains of his own cargo and

let him do as he thinks fit."

This they granted, but of his own adventure not more than L50 worth was

now left. The sailors had taken rolls of fine Holland and opened them to

lie down in on the deck. Then when the others came and flung buckets of

claret over them, they flung the stained parcels overboard. In loading,

the pirates always dropped the bales over, if they were not passed as

quickly as they expected. The Irish beef they threw away, Cocklyn saying

Snelgrave had horsebeans enough to last his crew six months.

Soon after this the brutal quartermaster fell sick of a fever, and sent

to Snelgrave to beg his forgiveness, for having attempted to shoot him.

He said he had been a wicked wretch, and that his conscience tormented

him, for he feared he should roll in hell fire. When Snelgrave preached

repentance he declared his heart was hardened, but he would try, and he

ordered Snelgrave to take any necessaries he wanted from his chest, but

died that night in terrible agonies and cursing God. This so affected

many of the new recruits that they begged Snelgrave to get them off, and

promised not to be guilty of murder or other cruelty. In the cabin the

pirates found some proclamations, and being unable to read asked the

prisoner to do it for them. He then read His Majesty's proclamation for

a pardon to all pirates that should surrender themselves at any of the

British plantations by the 1st of July, 1719. The next was the

declaration of war against Spain. When they heard the latter, some said

they wished they had known it before they left the West Indies, as they

might have turned privateersmen, and have enriched themselves. Snelgrave

told them it was not yet too late, there being still three months left

of the term prescribed. But when they heard the rewards offered for the

apprehension of pirates, a Buccaneer who had been guilty of murder,

treated the proclamation with contempt, and tore it in pieces. Amongst

other men that consulted Snelgrave was a sailor named Curtis, who, being

sick, walked about the deck wrapped in a silk gown. He had sailed with

Snelgrave's father. Among other spoil the three pirate captains had

found a box with three second-hand embroidered coats, which they seized

and put on. The longest falling to Cocklyn's share, who was a short man,

it reached to his ankles, but Le Bouce and Davis refused to change with

him, saying that as he was going on shore where the negro ladies knew

nothing of white men's fashions, it did not matter, and moreover, as his

coat was scarlet embroidered with silver, he would be the bravest of

them all.

These clothes being taken contrary to law, and without the

quartermaster's leave, the crew were offended, declaring that if they

suffered such things, the captains would assume a new power, and soon

take whatever they liked. The next morning when their captains returned,

the coats were taken from them, and put into the common chest; and it

having been reported that Snelgrave had advised the costume, many of the

men turned against him, one of them threatening to cut him to pieces. A

sailor who stood near told Snelgrave not to be frightened at the man's

threat, for he always spoke in that way, and advised him to call him

"captain" when he came on board, for the fellow had once been commander

of a pirate sloop, did not like the post of quartermaster, and loved to

be called by his old title. On entering the ship, Snelgrave said softly

to him, "Captain Williams, pray hear me on the point you are so offended

about." Upon this Williams gave him a playful blow on the shoulder with

the flat of his sword, and said "I have not the heart to hurt thee." He

then explained the affair, drank a glass of wine with him, and they were

friends ever after. The pirates next captured a French ship that they

had at first taken for a forty-gun ship in pursuit of them. The men

drunk and newly levied, might at this time have easily been cut off, and

the hundred sail of ships they afterwards destroyed saved. When some of

the men cried out that they had never seen a gun fired in anger, Cocklyn

caned them, telling them they should soon learn to smell gunpowder. The

French captain they hung at the yard-arm for not striking at their

first shot. When they had pulled him up and down several times till he

was almost dead, Le Bouce interfered for his countryman, protesting he

would sail no longer with such barbarous villains. They then gave him

the French ship, first destroying her cargo, cutting her masts by the

board, and running her on shore, as old and useless.

Snelgrave's ship being now fitted up by the pirates, he was invited to

its christening. The officers stood round the great cabin, holding

bumpers of punch in their hands; and on Captain Cocklyn saying, "God

bless the Wyndham galley," they drank the liquor, broke their glasses,

and the guns thundered a broadside.

The new ship being galley built with only two flush decks, the

powder-room scuttle was in the chief cabin, and at that time stood open.

One of the guns blowing at the touch-hole, set fire to some cartouch

boxes that held small arm cartridges, the shot of which flew about,

filling the room with smoke. When it was over, Davis remarked on the

great danger they had been in, the scuttle having been all the time

open, and 20,000 lb. weight of powder lying under. Cocklyn replied with

a curse, "I wish it had taken fire, for it would have been a noble blast

to have gone to hell with."

The next day the pirate captains invited Snelgrave to dinner, and during

supper a trumpeter and other musicians, who had been taken from various

prizes, played and sang. About the middle of supper there was a sudden

cry of fire, and a sailor boy, running in, with a pale face, said the

main hatchway was on fire. The crew were then nearly drunk, and many of

them leaped into the boats, leaving the officers and the fifty

prisoners. On Snelgrave remarking to Davis the danger they were in,

being left without a boat, Davis fired a great gun at the fugitives, and

brought them back. The gunner then put wet blankets on the bulk head of

the powder-room, and so saved it from destruction. This immense store of

powder had been collected from various prizes, as being an article in

great request with the negroes. Snelgrave took one of the quarterdeck

gratings and lowered it over the ship's side with a rope, in case he

should be obliged to leave the ship, and all this time the drunken

sailors were standing on the quarterdeck, to the horror of the

prisoners, shouting, "Hurrah for a quick passage to hell!"

About ten o'clock the master, a brisk and courageous man, who, with

fifteen more, had spared no pains to conquer the flames, came up

miserably burnt, and calling for a surgeon, declared the danger was now

all over. The fire had arisen from the carelessness of a negro, who

being sent to pump out some rum, held his candle so near the bung-hole

of the hogshead that a spark caught the spirit. This soon fired another

tub, and both their heads flew off with the report of a cannon; but

though there were twenty casks of rum, and as many of pitch and tar in

the store, all the rest escaped.

Before morning, the gunner's mate having spoken in favour of Snelgrave's

conduct during the fire, the crew sent for him to attend the sale of his

effects on board the Wyndham galley. Some promised to be kind to him;

and the captain offered to buy his watch. As they were talking, a mate,

half drunk, proposed that Snelgrave should be kept as a pilot till they

left the coast, but Davis caned him off the quarter deck.

Two days after this the pirates took a small vessel belonging to the

African Company. Snelgrave's first mate then told them that he had been

once very badly served by this company, and begged that they would burn

the vessel in revenge. This was about to be ordered when Stubbs, a

quick-witted sailor, stood up and said, "Pray, gentlemen, hold, and I

will prove to you that the burning of this ship will only advance the

company's interests. The vessel has been out two years; is old, crazy,

and worm-eaten; her stores are worth little, and her cargo consists only

of red wood and pepper, the loss of which will not harm the company, who

will save the men's wages, which will be three times the value of the

cargo." This convinced the crew, who at once spared the vessel, and

returned her to the captain.

A few days afterwards, Snelgrave's things were sold at the mast, many of

the men returning him their purchases, his old school-fellow in

particular begging hard on his behalf. When the fiercer men observed the

great heap of things he had collected, they swore the dog was

insatiable, and said it would be a good deed to throw them overboard.

Hearing this, Snelgrave loaded his canoe, and, by the advice of his

friends, returned to shore. Soon after he left, his watch was put up for

sale, and run to L100 in order to vex Davis, who, however, bought it at

that enormous price. One of the sailors, enraged at this, tried the case

on a touch-stone, and, seeing it looked copperish from the alloy in the

gold, swore it was bad metal. They then declared Snelgrave was a greater

rogue than any of them, since he had cheated them all. Russel laughed at

this, and then vowed to whip him when he came next. Upon the advice of

his friends, Snelgrave hid in the woods till the pirates left the river,

and soon after returned with several other ruined men to England.

Of the MADAGASCAR PIRATES some scanty record in Hamilton's Account of

the East Indies, published in 1726. He mentions the fact that the

pirates had totally destroyed the English slave trade in that island, in

spite of several squadrons of men-of-war sent against them. To use the

author's own rather ambiguous words, "A single ship, commanded by one

Millar, did more than all the chargeable fleets could do, for, with a

cargo of strong ale and brandy, which he carried to sell them in 1704,

he killed about 500 of them by carousing, though they took his ship and

cargo as a present from him, and his men entered, most of them, into the

society of the pirates." Commodore Littleton lent them blocks and

tackle-falls to careen, and, for some secret reasons, released some of

their number.

The author concludes in the following manner: "Madagascar is environed

with islands and dangerous shoals both of rocks and sand. St. Mary's, on

the east side, is the place which the pirates first chose for their

asylum, having a good harbour to defend them from the weather, though

in going in there are some difficulties. But hearing the squadrons of

English ships were come in quest of them, they removed to the main

island for more security, and there they have made themselves free

denizens by marriage." And the author is of opinion it will be no easy

matter to dispossess them. In 1722 Mr. Matthews went in search of them,

but found they had deserted St. Mary's Island, leaving behind them some

marks of their robberies, for in some places he found pepper strewed a

foot thick on the ground. The commodore went, with his squadron, over

into the main island, but the pirates had carried their ships into

rivers or creeks, out of danger of the men-of-war, and to burn them with

their boats would have been impracticable, since they could have easily

distressed the crews from the woods. The commodore had some discourse

with several of them, but they stood on their guard, ready to defend

themselves in case any violence had been offered them.

The 11th and 12th of William III., and the 8th George I., are both

statutes against piracy, and are indications of the years in which their

ravages were peculiarly felt. By the first, any natural-born subject

committing an act of hostility against any of his Majesty's subjects,

under colour of a commission from any foreign power, could be tried for

piracy. And further, any commander betraying his trust, and running away

with the ship, or yielding it up voluntarily to a pirate, or any one

confining his captain to prevent him fighting, was adjudged a pirate,

felon, and robber, and was sentenced to death.

The later acts make it piracy even to trade with known pirates.

Commanders or seamen wounded, or their widows slain in piratical

engagements, were entitled to a bounty not exceeding one-fiftieth part

of the value of the cargo, and wounded men received the pension of

Greenwich Hospital. If the commander behaved cowardly, he was to forfeit

all his wages, and suffer six months' imprisonment.

Such are a few of the facts connected with the almost unrecorded and

uncertain history of the pirates of New Providence and Madagascar, the

most loathsome wretches that perhaps, since Cain, have ever washed their

hands in human blood. Ferocious yet often cowardly, they were subtle and

cruel, with none of the frequent generosity of outlaws, and little of

the enterprise of the military adventurers. Long ago have their bones

crumbled from the dark gibbets on the lonely sand islands of the

Pacific, and they remain without monument or record, except in prison

chronicles and forgotten voyages. We have reviewed their history simply

as the natural sequel of our annals, and as an illustration of the

character of the English seaman in its most brutal and satanic aspect.

THE END.

CHIEF AUTHORITIES.

BUCCANEER WRITERS.

JOHN (JOSEPH?) ESQUEMELING'S[1] Bucaniers of America; or, an Account of

the most Remarkable Assaults committed on the Coasts of the West Indies

by the Bucaniers of Jamaica and Tortuga; with the Exploits of Sir Henry

Morgan. Translated into English from the Dutch, with a Portrait of Sir

H. Morgan, a Map and Plates, with a Table. 4to. London. 1684.

[1] Rich, in his "Bibliotheca Americana Nova," 1835, confounds

Esquemeling, the Dutchman, with Oexmelin, the Frenchman. The English

translation of 1684 speaks of Esquemeling's work as written by a

Frenchman and Dutchman together, the name being French and the language

Dutch. Rich describes it as first printed in Dutch, 1678; then

translated into Spanish; then from Spanish into English, and from

English into French; the author's name being changed in the latter

translation.

---- De Americanische Zee Roovers. 4to. Amsterdam. 1678.

---- Hisp. 12mo. Col. Ag. 1682.

---- Eng. 12mo. London. 1684.

---- 4to. Col. Ag. 1684.

---- 12mo. 4 vols. Maps and Plates. Trevoux.

(Augmentee de l'Histoire des Pirates Anglais depuis leur Etablissement

dans l'Isle de Providence jusqu'au Present.): 1775.

OEXMELIN, ALEXANDRE OLIVIER--Histoire des Avanturiers qui se sont

signales dans les Indes Occidentales depuis Vingt Ans. Traduite de

l'Anglais par le Sr. de Frontignieres; avec un Traite de la Chambre de

Comptes etablie dans les Indes par les Espagnols, traduit de l'Espagnol;

le tout enriche des Cartes et des Figures, avec des Tables. 2 vols.

12mo. Paris. 1688.

---- 8vo. Paris. 1688. 2 tom.

JESUIT HISTORIANS.

PIERRE FRANCOIS XAVIER CHARLEVOIX--Histoire de l'Isle Espagnole, ou de

St. Domingue, ecrite sur des Memoires Manuscrits du P. Jean Baptiste le

Tertre, Jesuite Missionaire a St. Domingue, et sur les Pieces Originales

qui se conservent au Depot de la Marine; avec des Cartes, des Plans, et

des Tables. 2 vols. 4to. Paris. 1730-31.

Piratas de la America y Luz a la Defensa de las Costas de Indias

Occidentales. Traducida del Flamenco en Espanol, por el Doctor Buena

Maison, Medico Practico en la Amplissima y Magnifica Ciudad de Amsterdam

Dala a Luz esta Tercera Edicion, D.M.G.R. Madrid. 4to. 1763. 12mo. 1682.

4to. 1684.

JEAN BAPTISTE DU TERTRE, missionaire apostolique dans les

Antilles--Histoires des Antilles Habitees par les Francois; avec des

Figures. 4 vols. 4to. Paris. 1667-71.

JEAN BAPTISTE LABAT, Dominicain Parisien, professeur des Philosophies a

Nanci, etc.--Nouveau Voyage aux Isles de l'Amerique. 8 vols. 12mo.

Paris. 1742.

CAPTAIN WILLIAM DAMPIER'S Voyage Round the World. Illustrated with Maps

and Plates. 4 vols. in 3. 8vo. London. 1703-9.

CAPTAIN COWLEY'S Voyage Round the Globe. 8vo. London. 1679.

LIONEL WAFER'S Voyage and Description of the Isthmus of America. 8vo.

London, 1699. 8vo. London, 1704.

CAPTAIN JAMES BURNEY'S Chronological History of the Discoveries in the

South Sea or Pacific Ocean. 3 vols. 4to. 1803-13-17.

CAPTAIN T. SOUTHEY'S Chronological History of the West Indies. 3 vols.

8vo. London. 1817.

LIST OF BUCCANEER CHIEFS,

FROM THE COMMENCEMENT OF THEIR EMPIRE TO ITS DOWNFALL.

LOUIS SCOTT. PIERRE LE GRAND. PIERRE FRANCOIS. ROC THE BRAZILIAN.

BARTHELEMY PORTUGUES. LOLONNOIS THE CRUEL. ALEXANDRE BRAS DE FER.

MONTBARS THE EXTERMINATOR. MOSES VAN VIN. PIERRE LE PICARD. TRIBUTOR.

CAPTAIN CHAMPAGNE. LE BASQUE. SIR HENRY MORGAN. CAPTAIN SWAN. CAPTAIN

SHARP. CAPTAIN BRADLEY. CAPTAIN COXEN. CAPTAIN BETSHARP. DAMPIER.

CAPTAIN GROGNIET. CAPTAIN YANKEY. LAURENT DE GRAFF. SIEUR DE GRAMMONT.

SIEUR DE MONTAUBAN. DE LISLE. ANNE LE ROUX. VAUCLIN. OVINET. ELIAS WARD.

WILLIS. D'OGERON. CAPTAIN DAVIS. VAN HORN. CAPTAIN MICHAEL. CAPTAIN

ROSE. CAPTAIN DAVIOT.

LONDON: SERCOMBE AND JACK, 16 GREAT WINDMILL STREET.

Just Published, Illustrated with Portraits,

THE THIRD AND FOURTH VOLUMES,

COMPLETING THE WORK, OF THE

MEMOIRS OF THE COURT & CABINETS OF GEORGE III.

FROM ORIGINAL FAMILY DOCUMENTS.

BY THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM & CHANDOS, K.G.

Among the principal important and interesting subjects of these volumes

(comprising the period from 1800 to 1810) are the following:--The Union

of Great Britain and Ireland--The Catholic Question--The retirement from

office of Mr. Pitt and Lord Grenville--The Addington Administration--The

Peace of Amiens--The connection of the Prince of Wales with the

Opposition--The Coalition of Pitt, Fox, and Grenville--The Downfall of

the Addington Ministry--The conduct of the Princess of Wales--Nelson in

the Baltic and at Trafalgar--The Administration of Lord Grenville and

Mr. Fox--The Abolition of the Slave Trade--The Walcheren Expedition--The

Enquiry into the conduct of the Duke of York--The Convention of

Cintra--The Expeditions to Portugal and Spain--The Quarrel of Lord

Castlereagh and Mr. Canning--The Malady of George III.--Proceedings for

the establishment of the Regency. The Volumes also comprise the Private

Correspondence of Lord Grenville, when, Secretary of State and First

Lord of the Treasury--of the Right Hon. Thomas Grenville, when President

of the Board of Control and First Lord of the Admiralty--of the Duke of

Wellington, during his early Campaigns in the Peninsula; with numerous

confidential communications from George III., the Prince of Wales, Lords

Castlereagh, Elgin, Hobart, Camden, Essex, Carysfort, Melville, Howick,

Wellesley, Fitzwilliam, Temple, Buckingham, Mr. Fox, Mr. Wyndham, &c.

&c.

N.B.--A FEW COPIES OF THE FIRST AND SECOND VOLUMES OF THIS WORK MAY

STILL BE HAD.

"These volumes contain much valuable matter. There are three periods

upon which they shed a good deal of light--the formation of the

Coalition Ministry in 1783, the illness of the King in 1788, and the

first war with Republican France."--_Times._

"A very remarkable and valuable publication. In these volumes the

most secret history of many important transactions is for the first

time given to the public."--_Herald._

HURST AND BLACKETT, PUBLISHERS,

SUCCESSORS TO HENRY COLBURN,

13, GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET.

* * * * *

Transcriber's note:

Mismatched quotation marks in one paragraph of Chapter I

were left as in the original.