the remonstrances of Morgan and me, goes overboard in the night. countenance of my fellow-prisoner, who, without speaking one word, allowed his feet to be inclosed in the rings provided for that purpose; but when they pretended to fasten him on his back, he grew outrageous, and drawing a large couteau from his side-pocket, threatened to rip up the belly of the first man that should approach him, in order to treat him in such an unworthy manner. They were preparing to use him very roughly, when the them to let him remain as he was. He then crept towards me, and taking me by the hand, bade me," put my trust in Got." And looking at Thomson, who sat by us trembling, with a pale visage, told him, there were two more rings for his feet, and he should be glad to find him in such good company. But it was not the intention of our adversary to include the second mate in our fate; him he expected to be his drudge in attending the sick, and, if possible, his evidence against us; with this view, he sounded him afar off; but finding his integrity incorruptible, harassed him so much out of spite, that, in a short time, this mild creature grew weary of his life. In the mean time, the storm subsided into a brisk gale, that carried us into the warm latitudes, where the weather became intolerable, and the crew very sickly. The doctor left nothing unattempted towards the completion of his vengeance against the Welshman and me. He went among the sick, under pretence of inquiring into their griev-lieutenant on the quarter deck called up to ances, with a view of picking up complaints to our prejudice; but finding himself frustrated in that expectation, by the good will we had procured from the patients, by our diligence and humanity, he took the resolution of listening to our conversation, by hiding himself behind the canvass that surrounded our berth; here too he was detected by the boy of our mess, who acquainted us with this piece of behaviour; and one night while we were picking a large bone of salt beef, Morgan discerned something stir on the outside of our hangings, which immediately interpreting to be the doctor, he tipt me the wink, and pointed to the place, where I could perceive somebody standing; upon which I snatched up the bone, and levelled it with all my force at him, saying,-"Whoever you are, take that for your curiosity." It had the desired effect, for we heard the listener tumble down, and afterwards crawl to his own cabin. I applauded myself much for this feat, which turned out one of the most unlucky exploits of my life, Mackshane from that time marking me out for destruction. About a week after this exploit, as I was going my rounds among the sick, I was taken prisoner, and carried to the poop by the master at arms, where I was loaded with irons and stapled to the deck, on pretence that I was a spy on board, and had conspired against the captain's life. How ridiculous soever this imputation was, I did not fail to suffer by it all the rigour that could be shown to the worst of criminals, being exposed in this miserable condition to the scorching heat of the sun by day, and the unwholesome damps by night, during the space of twelve days, in which I was neither brought to trial, nor examined touching the probability of the charge. I had no sooner recovered the use of my reflection, which had been quite overthrown by this accident, than I sent for Thomson, who, after condoling me on the occasion, hinted, that I owed this misfortune to the hatred of the doctor, who had given an information against me to the captain, in consequence of which I was arrested, and all my papers seized. While I was cursing my capricious fate, I saw Morgan ascend the poop, guarded by two corporals, who made him sit down by me, that he might be pinioned in the same machine. Notwithstanding my situation, I could scarce refrain from laughing at the While I and my fellow-prisoner comforted each other in our tribulation, the admiral discovered four sail to leeward, and made signal for our ship and four more to chase; here. upon every thing was cleared for an engagement; and Mackshane, foreseeing he should have occasion for more assistants than one, obtained Morgan's liberty, while I was left in this deplorable posture to the chance of battle. It was almost dark when we came up with the sternmost chase, which we hailed, and inquired who they were: they gave us to understand they were French men of war: upon which Captain Oakum commanded them to send their boat on board of him; but they refused, telling him, if he had any business with them, to come on board of their ship: he then threatened to pour in a broadside upon them, which they promised to return. Both sides were as good as their word, and the engagement began with great fury. The reader may guess how I passed my time, lying in this helpless situation, amidst the terrors of a sea fight; expecting every moment to be cut asunder, or dashed in pieces by the enemy's shot! I endeavoured to compose myself as much as possible, by reflecting that I was not a whit more exposed than those who were stationed about me; but when I beheld them employed without intermission in annoying the foe, and encouraged by the society and behaviour of one another, I could easily perceive a wide dif ference between their condition and mine: however, I concealed my agitation as well as I could, till the head of the officer of marines, who stood near me, being shot off, bounced from the deck athwart my face, leaving me well nigh blinded with brains. I could con tain myself no longer, but began to bellow | he did not choose to accompany us in our with all the strength of my lungs; when a confinement. Thomson, foreseeing that the drummer coming towards me, asked if I was whole slavery of attending the sick and wounwounded and before I could answer, receiv- ded, as well as the cruelty of Mackshane, ed a great shot in his belly, which tore out his must now fall upon his shoulders, grew desentrails, and he fell flat on my breast. This perate at the prospect, and, though I never accident entirely bereft me of all discretion: heard him swear before, imprecated dreadful I redoubled my cries, which were drowned curses on the heads of his oppressors, declarin the noise of the battle; and finding myself ing that he would rather quit life altogether, disregarded, lost all patience, and became than be much longer under the power of such frantic: I vented my rage in oaths and exe- barbarians. I was not a little startled at his crations, till my spirits being quite exhausted, vivacity, and endeavoured to alleviate his I remained quiet, and insensible of the load complaints, by representing the subject of that oppressed me. The engagement lasted my own; with as much aggravation as it till broad day, when Captain Oakum, finding would bear, by which comparison he might that he was like to gain neither honour nor see the balance of misfortune lay on my side, advantage by the affair, pretended to be un- and take an example from me of fortitude deceived by seeing their colours; and, hail- and submission, till such time as we could ing the ship with whom he had fought all procure redress, which, I hoped, was not far night, protested he believed them Spaniards; off, considering that we should probably be and the guns being silenced on each side, in a harbour in less than three days, where ordered the barge to be hoisted out, and went we should have an opportunity of preferring on board of a French commodore. Our loss our complaints to the admiral. The Welshamounted to ten killed, and eighteen wound- man joined in my remonstrance, and was at ed, most part of whom afterwards died. great pains to demonstrate, that it was every My fellow mates had no sooner dispatched man's duty, as well as interest, to resign their business in the cockpit, than, full of himself to the divine will, and look upon him. friendly concern, they came to visit me. self as a sentinel upon duty, who is by no Morgan ascended first, and seeing my face means at liberty to leave his post before he almost covered with brains and blood, con- is relieved. Thomson listened attentively to cluded I was no longer a man for this world; what we said, and at last, shedding a flood of and calling to Thomson with great emotion, tears, shook his head, and left us without bade him come up and take his last farewell making any reply. About eleven at night he of his comrade and countryman, who was came to see us again, with a settled gloom posting to a petter place, where there were on his countenance, and gave us to underno Mackshanes nor Oakums to asperse and stand, that he had undergone excessive toil torment him. "No," said he, taking me by since he saw us, and in recompense had been the hand, "you are going to a country where grossly abused by the doctor, who taxed him there is more respect shown to unfortunate with being confederate with us in a design of shentlemen, and where you will have the taking away his life, and that of the captain. satisfaction of peholding your adversaries After some time spent in mutual exhortation, tossing upon pillows of purning primstone." he got up, and squeezing me by the hand with Thomson, alarmed at this apostrophe, made an uncommon fervour, cried-" God bless haste to the place where I lay, and sitting you both ;" and left us to wonder at his sindown by me, with tears in his eyes, inquired gular manner of parting with us, which did into the nature of my calamity. By this not fail to make a deep impression on us. time I had recollected myself so far, as to be able to converse rationally with my friends, whom, to their great satisfaction, I immediately undeceived with regard to their apprehension of my being mortally wounded. After I had got myself disengaged from the carnage in which I wallowed, and partaken of a refreshment which my friends brought along with them, we entered into discourse upon the hardships we sustained, and spoke very freely of the authors of our misery: but our discourse being overheard by the sentinel who guarded me, he was no sooner relieved, than he reported to the captain every syllable of our conversation, according to the orders he had received. The effect of this information soon appeared in the arrival of the master at arms, who replaced Morgan in his former station, and gave the second mate a caution to keep a strict guard over his tongue, if Next morning, when the hour of visitation came round, this unhappy young man was missing, and, after strict search, supposed to have gone overboard in the night; and this was certainly the case. CHAPTER XXX. We lament the fate of our companion-the captain offers Morgan his liberty, which he refuses to accept-we are brought before him, and examined-Morgan is sent back into custody, whither also I am remanded, after a curious trial. THE news of this event affected my fellowprisoner and me extremely, as our unfortunate companion had justly acquired, by his amiable disposition, the love and esteem of us words against your captain, who, to be sure, both; and the more we regretted his untime- | been informed you have spoken disrespectful ly fate, the greater horror we conceived for the villain who was undoubtedly the occasion of it. This abandoned miscreant did not discover the least symptom of concern for Thomson's death, although he must have been conscious to himself of having driven him by ill usage to that fatal resolution; but desired the captain to set Morgan at liberty again, to look after the patients. Accordingly, one of the corporals was sent up to unfetter him; but he protested he would not be released until he should know for what he was confined; nor would he be a tennis-ball, nor a shuttlecock, nor a trudge, nor a scullion, to any captain under the sun. Oakum finding him obstinate, and fearing it would not be in his power to exercise his tyranny much longer with impunity, was willing to show some appearance of justice, and therefore ordered us both to be brought before him on the quarterdeck, where he sat in state, with his clerk on one side, and his counsellor Mackshane on the other. When we approached, he honoured us with this salutation :-"So, gentle-" This," said the clerk, "is a strong premen, d―n my blood! many a captain in the sumption of a design formed against the capnavy would have ordered you both to be tuck'd tain's life. For why? It presupposes malup to the yard's arm, without either judge or ice aforethought, and a criminal intention a jury, for the crimes you have been guilty of; priori." "Right," said the captain, to this but, d-n my blood, I have too much good miserable grub, who had been an attorney's nature, in allowing such dogs as you to make boy; "you shall have law enough; here's your defence." "Captain Oakum," said my Cook and Littlejohn for it." This evidence fellow-sufferer," certainly it is in your power was confirmed by the boy, who affirmed he (Got help the while) to tuck us all up at heard the first mate say, that the captain your will, and desire, and pleasures. And had no more bowels than a bear, and the surperhaps it would be petter for some of us to geon had no more brains than an ass. Then be tucked up, than undergo the miseries to the sentinel who heard our discourse on the which we have been exposed. So may the poop was examined, and informed the court farmer hang his kids for his diversion, and that the Welshman assured me, Captain amusement and mirth; but there is such a Oakum and Dr Mackshane would toss upon thing as justice, if not upon earth, surely in billows of burning brimstone in hell for their heaven, that will punish with fire and prim- barbarity. The clerk observed, that there stone all those who take away the lives of was an evident prejudication, which confirminnocent people out of wantonness and par- ed the former suspicion of a conspiracy against parity (look you). In the mean time, I shall the life of captain Oakum; for, because, how be glad to know the crimes laid to my charge, could Morgan so positively pronounce that and see the person who accuses me." "That the captain and surgeon would be damned, you shall," said the captain; "here, doctor, unless he had an intention to make away with what have you to say?" Mackshane, step- them before they could have time to repent? ping forward, hemmed a good while, in order This sage explanation had great weight with to clear his throat; and before he began, our noble commander, who exclaimed,Morgan accosted him thus:-" Doctor Mack-"What have you to say to this, Taffy! you shane, look in my face-look in the face of an honest man, who abhors a false witness as he abhors the tevil, and Got be judge between you and me." The doctor, not minding this conjuration, made the following speech, as near as I can remember:-"I'll tell you what, Mr Morgan, to be sure, what you say is just, in regard to an honest man; and if so be it appears as how you are an honest man, then it is my opinion that you deserve to be acquitted, in relation to that there affair; for tell you what, Captain Oakum is resolved for to do every body justice. As for my own part, all that I have to allege is, that I have I seem to be taken all a-back, brother, ha!" Morgan was too much of a gentleman to disown the text, although he absolutely denied the truth of the comment: upon which the captain, strutting up to him with a ferocious countenance, said,-"So Mr son of a b-, you confess you honoured me with the names of bear and beast, and pronounced my damnation? Damn my heart! I have a good mind to have you brought to a court-martial, and hanged, you dog." Here Mackshane, having occasion for an assistant, interposed, and begged the captain to pardon Mr Morgan, with his wonted goodness, upon condition, deceased Thomson and me whispering together, and could distinguish_the_wordsOakum, rascal, poison, pistol."-By which expressions it appeared, we did intend to use sinister means to accomplish his destruction. That the death of Thomson seemed to confirm this conjecture; who, either feeling the stings of remorse, for being engaged in such a horrid confederacy, or fearing a discovery, by which he must have infallibly suffered an ignominious death, had put a fatal period to his own existence. But what established the truth of the whole, was a book in ciphers, found among my papers, which exactly tallied with one found in his chest after his disappearance. This, he observed, was a presumption very near proof positive, and would determine any jury in Christendom to find me guilty. In my own defence, I al that he, the delinquent, should make such | they pretended to support by the evidence of submission as the nature of his misdemeanour our boy, who declared he had often heard the demanded. Upon which the Cambro-Briton, who on this occasion would have made no submission to the great Mogul, surrounded with his guards, thanked the doctor for his mediation, and acknowledged himself in the wrong for calling the image of Got a peast; -"But," said he, "I spoke by metaphor, and parable, and comparison, and types: as we signify meekness by a lamb, lechery by a goat, and craftiness by a fox; so we liken ignorance to an ass, and brutality to a bear, and fury to a tiger; therefore I made use of these similes to express my sentiments (look you), and what I said before Got, I will not unsay before man or peast neither." Oakum was so provoked at this insolence (as he termed it), that he ordered him forthwith to be carried to the place of his confinement, and his clerk to proceed on the examination of me. The first question put to me, was touch-leged that had been dragged on board first, ing the place of my nativity, which I declared to be the north of Scotland. "The north of Ireland, more like," cried the captain, "but we shall bring you up presently." He then asked what religion I professed; and when I answered," the protestant," swore I was as arrant a Roman as ever went to mass. "Come, come, clerk," continued he, "catechise him a little on this subject." But before I relate the particulars of the clerk's inquiries, it will not be amiss to inform the reader, that our commander himself was an Hibernian, and, if not shrewdly belied, a Roman catholic to boot. "You say you are a protestant," said the clerk, " make the sign of the cross with your fingers, so, and swear upon it to that affirmation." When I was about to perform this ceremony, the captain cried, with some emotion,-"No, no, damme! I'll have no profanation neither. But go on with your interrogations." "Well, then," proceeded my examiner, "how many sacraments are there?" To which I replied, "Two." "What are they?" said he. I answered," Baptism and the Lord's supper." "And so you would explode confirmation and marriage altogether?" said Oakum, "I thought this fellow was a rank Roman." The clerk, though he was bred under an attorney, could not refrain from blushing at this blunder, which he endeavoured to conceal, by observing, that these decoys would not do with me, who seemed to be an old offender. He went on with asking if I believed in transubstantiation: but I treated the notion of a real presence with such disrespect, that his patron was scandalized at my impiety, and commanded him to proceed to the plot. Whereupon this miserable pettifogger told me there was great reason to suspect me of being a spy on board; and that I had entered into a conspiracy with Thomson, and others not yet detected, against the life of Captain Oakum: which accusation very much against my inclination, as I could prove by the evidence of some people now in the ship; consequently could have no design of becoming a spy at that time; and ever since had been entirely out of the reach of any correspondence that could justly entail that suspicion upon me. As for conspiring against my captain's life, it could not be supposed that any man in his right wits would harbour the least thought of such an undertaking, which he could not possibly perform without certain infamy and ruin to himself, even if he had all the inclination in the world. That, allowing the boy's evidence to be true (which I affirmed was false and malicious), nothing conclusive could be gathered from a few incoherent words: neither was the fate of Mr Thomson a circumstance more favourable for the charge; for I had in my pocket a letter which too well explained that mystery, in a very different manner from that which was supposed. With these words I produced the following letter, which Jack Rattlin brought to me the very day after Thomson disappeared; and told me it was committed to his care by the deceased; who made him promise not to deliver it sooner. The clerk, taking it out of my hand, read aloud the contents, which were these: "DEAR FRIEND,-I am so much oppressed with the fatigue I daily and nightly undergo, and the barbarous usage of Doctor Mack. shane, who is bent on your destruction, as well as mine, that I am resolved to free myself from this miserable life, and, before you receive this, shall be no more. I could have wished to die in your good opinion, which I am afraid I shall forfeit by the last act of my life; but if you cannot acquit me, I know you will at least preserve some regard for the memory of an unfortunate young man who loved you. I recommend it to you to beware of Mackshane, whose revenge is implacable. I wish all prosperity to you and Mr Morgan, to whom, pray, offer my last | proclaimed, that if any of them could speak respects, and beg to be remembered as your unhappy friend and countryman, "WILLIAM THOMSON." Greek, he or they so qualified should ascend the quarter deck immediately. After some pause, two foremast men came up and professed their skill in that language, which, they said, they acquired during several voya This letter was no sooner read, than Mackshane, in a transport of rage, snatched it out of the clerk's hands, and tore it into a thou-ges to the Levant, among the Greeks of the sand pieces, saying, it was a villainous forgery, contrived and executed by myself. The captain and clerk declared themselves of the same opinion, although I insisted on having the remains of it compared with other writings of Thomson, which they had in their possession; and I was ordered to answer the last article of my accusation, namely, the book of ciphers found among my papers. "That is easily done," said I. "What you are pleased to call ciphers, are no other than the Greek characters, in which, for my amusement, I kept a diary of every thing remarkable that has occurred to my observation, since the beginning of the voyage till the day on which I was put in irons; and the same method was practised by Mr Thomson, who copied mine." "A very likely story!" cried Mackshane. "What occasion was there for using Greek characters, if you were not afraid of discovering what you had wrote ? But what d'ye talk of Greek characters? D'ye think I am so ignorant of the Greek language, as not to distinguish its letters from these, which are no more Greek than Chinese? No, no, I will not give up my knowledge of the Greek for you, nor none that ever came from your country." So saying, with an unparalleled effrontery, he repeated some gibberish, which, by the sound, seemed to be Irish, and made it pass for Greek with the captain, who, looking at me with a contemptuous sneer, exclaimed-"Ah! ah! have you caught a Tartar?" I could not help smiling at the consummate assurance of this Hibernian, and offered to refer the dispute to any body on board who understood the Greek alphabet, upon which Morgan was brought back, and being made acquainted with the affair, took the book and read a whole page in English without hesitation, deciding the controversy in my favour. The doctor was so far from being out of countenance at this detection, that he affirmed Morgan was in the secret, and repeated from his own invention. Oakum said," Ay, ay, I see they are both in a story;" and dismissed my fellow mate to the cockloft, although I proposed that he and I should read and translate, separately, any chapter or verse in the Greek Testament, in his possession, by which it would appear whether we or the surgeon spoke truth. Not being endued with eloquence enough to convince the captain that there could be no juggle nor confederacy in this expedient, I begged to be examined by some unconcerned person on board, who understood Greek: accordingly, the whole ship's company, officers and all, were called upon deck, among whom it was Morea. The captain exulted much in this declaration, and put my journal-book into the hands of one of them, who candidly owned he could neither read nor write: the other acknowledged the same degree of ignorance, but pretended to speak the Greek lingo with any man on board: and, addressing himself to me, pronounced some sentences, of a barbarous corrupted language which I did not understand. I asserted, that the modern Greek was as different from that spoken and written by the ancients, as the English used now from the old Saxon spoken in the time of Hengist; and as I had only learned the true original tongue, in which Homer, Pindar, the evangelists, and other great men of antiquity wrote, it could not be supposed that I should know any thing of an imperfect Gothic dialect that rose on the ruins of the former, and scarce retained any traces of the old expression. But if Doctor Mackshane, who pretended to be master of the Greek language, could maintain a conversation with these seamen, I would retract what I had said, and be content to suffer any punishment he should think proper to inflict. I had no sooner uttered these words, than the surgeon, knowing one of these fellows to be his countryman, accosted him in Irish, and was answered in the same brogue; when a dialogue ensued between them, which they affirmed to be in Greek, after having secured the secrecy of the other tar, who had his cue in the language of the Morea from his companion, before they could venture to assert such an intrepid falsehood. "I thought," said Oakum, "we should discover the imposture at last. Let the rascal be carried back to his confinement. I find he must dangle." Having nothing further to urge in my own behalf, before a court so prejudiced with spite, and fortified with ignorance against truth, I suffered myself to be reconducted peaceably to my fellow-prisoner, who, hearing the particulars of my trial, lifted up his hands and eyes to heaven, and uttered a dreadful groan; and not daring to disburthen his thoughts to me by speech, lest he might be overheard by the sentinel, burst forth into a Welsh song, which he accompanied with a thousand contortions of face, and violent gestures of body. CHAPTER XXXI. I discover a subornation against me, by means of a quarrel between two of the evidences; in consequence of which I am set |