necessary, and retired without doing any injury. His next adven. ture, was the capturing other two vessels.

The Major found no small difficulty in reconciling the different opinions of his crew, on what course they should next steer; being himself no sailor, he was frequently under the necessity of yielding to the erroneous opinion of others. He at last found an accomplished co-adjutor in Edward Teach, commonly called Black Beard. To him the Major's crew united their fortunes, while he himself went on board Teach's ship, and remained as a private sailor. In this station, Bonnet soon began to reflect upon his past life, and was filled with remorse and shame in conse. quence of his conduct. This change in his sentiments was discovered by his companions, and he avowed his ardent wish to retire into some foreign country to spend the remainder of his days in solitude.

Black Beard sometime after surrendered to the royal proclamation, and obtained pardon. The Major then assumed the command of his own ships, immediately sailed to Bath Town in North Carolina, and likewise surrendered to his Majesty's proclamation.

The war now commenced between the triple allies and Spain, and Major Bonnet went to the island of St Thomas, to obtain leave of the Emperor to privateer upon the Spaniards. Upon his re. turn he found, that Black Beard had pillaged the great ships of money and arms, and set on shore in a desolate island seventeen of the men ; which Bonnet being informed of by two who had escaped, he sent the long boat to their assistance, so that, after remain. ing two days without food, and in the prospect of a lingering death, they were all taken on board the Major's ships.

Bonnet then informed his men, that his intention was to take a commission to act against the Spaniards; and that he would take them along with him if they were inclined. To this they all rea dily complied. Just, however, as they were about to sail, they received intelligence, that Black Beard was not far off, with only eighteen or twenty men The Major pursued, but was too late to apprehend him. Disappointed in their pursuit, they directed their course to Virginia. When off the Capes, they met a vessel, out of which they took twelve barrels of pork, and four hundred weight of bread, and, in return, gave them eight or ten casks of rice, and an old cable. Two days after, he captured

a vessel off Cape Henry; in which were several casks of rum, and other articles of which they stood greatly in want.

Under the name of Captain Thomas, Major Bonnet suddenly resumed his former depredatory courses. Off Cape Henry, he took two ships bound from Virginia to Glasgow, which only supplied them with some hundreds weight of tobacco. The following day he seized one bound to Bermudas, which supplied him with twenty barrels of pork, and in return, gave her two barrels of rice, and a hogshead of molasses. From this ship, two men entered into their service. The next prize was a Virginiaman bound for Glasgow, from which they received nothing of value. In the course of their cruizing, several vessels were captured, though of no considerable

amount.

Our pirates next sailed for Cape Fier river, where they waited too long, because their vessel proved leaky, and they could not proceed until she was refited. A small shallop now afforded the materials for this purpose. Meanwhile, the intelligence was received, that a pirate was discovered with her prizes at no great distance; upon this information, the Council of South Carolina was alarmed, and two vessels were equipped and sent in search of the pirates. After a considerable search, they were discovered,—a severe engagement ensued, and Bonnet and his crew were made pri soners. In a short time, however, the Major and one Herriot made their escape. This greatly alarmed the inhabitants, lest he should again find means to get a vessel, and wreck his vengeance upon them. Accordingly, one Colonel Rhet was sent in pursuit of him, and a reward of seven hundred pounds offered for his ap prehension. They were discovered; Herriot was killed upon the spot, the Major surrendered, was brought to Charlestown, and, along with several others, was tried, found guilty, and received the sentence of death.

SIR JOHN FALSTAFF.

SIR JOHN FALSTAFF was born at Potten in Bedfordshire. He early associated with Henry Prince of Wales, Poins, Bar dolph, Gadshill, and Peto, and committed many depredations,

Shakespeare has humourously described the person of Falstaff: "When I was about thy years, Hal, (says Sir John to the Prince) I was not an eagle's talon in the waste, I could have crept into an alderman's thumb ring, a plague of sighing and grief, it blows a man up like a bladder." For Sir John, you must know, when he said this, was not such a skeleton as he describes. Though “he was a tun of man, a trunk of humours, a boulting-hutch of beastliness, a swoln parcel of dropsies, a huge bombard of sack, a stuffed clock-bag of guts, a roasted manning tree ox, with a pudding in his belly,"

Informed that some pilgrims, with rich presents, were on their way to the tomb of St Thomas-a-Becket, and also that some wealthy merchants were riding up to London, the Prince and Poins agreed that Falstaff and three more of their gang, should rob them, and that, in disguise, they two should rob the theives. Accordingly, when the four had got possession of the shining me tal, which was the piety of the pilgrims and the life of the mer. chants, the Prince and Poins áttacked them with fury, put them to flight, and stripped them of their spoil.

One day after, Falstaff and his companions happened to meet the Prince and Poins at a tavern, when Falstaff began to extol his valour, and to exclaim in the following manner : "There live not," quoth he, "three good men unhanged in England, and one of them," meaning himself, "is fat and grows old. God help the while! a bad world, I say "His highness asking the occasion of this bravado, “ Why," says Sir John," here are four of us have taken a thousand pounds this morning, but a hundred! a full hundred! fell upon us and took it away again. I am a rogue if I were not at half sword with a dozen of them two hours together. I have 'scaped by a miracle: I am eight times thrust through the doublet, four through the hose, my buckler cut through and through; my sword hacked like a hand-saw; here, look at it, I never dealt better since I was a man ; all would not do. A plague of all cowards, I say still." Upon this the Prince and Poins burst out into a loud fit of laughter, and told them the whole adventure. The civil wars commencing between the houses of York and Lancaster, Prince Henry was called home to defend his father's throne. Unwilling to desert his humourous companion, he made him a captain, and ordered him to Shrewsbury. The forces of

Henry IV. and Hotspur Percy, met at Shrewsbury The morning before the battle, Falstaff desires the Prince to defend him, if he should happen to fall. To which the Prince replied, "Nothing but a Colossus could do him that service, and he owed Heaven a death;" meanwhile, desiring him to say his prayers, and take his leave.

To this Sir John replied, "The debt to Heaven, which you speak of, is not yet due; and I should be loath to pay him before his day. What need I be so forward with him that calls not on me? Well, 'tis no matter, Honour pricks me on. But how, if honour pricks me off, when I come on? How then, can honour set to a leg? No. Or an arm? No. Or take away the grief of a wound? No. Honour hath no skill in surgery, then? No. What is honour? a word. What is that word honour? air, a trimreckoning. Who hath it? He that died o' Wednesday. Doth he feel it? No. Doth he hear it? No. Is it insensible, then? Yes, to the dead. But will it not live with the living? No. Why? Detraction will not suffer it. Therefore I'll none of it. Honour is a mere scutcheon, and so ends my catechism."

During the battle, Falstaff removes as far from danger as possible. The Prince and Hotspur met, and a terrible conflict ensued; and one Douglas, a Scotsman, attacks Sir John, who falls down to prevent farther injury. The Prince kills Hotspur, and laments Falstaff, whom he supposed to be slain. But when Sir John found it convenient, he starts up, wounds the dead general in the thigh, and taking him on his back goes in quest of the king, to claim the honour of killing him. He was met by the Prince, who fancied he saw his ghost, but Falstaff soon convinced him it was even he, both safe and sound.

Sir John was a second time called to the field, and was careful to allow the heat of the battle to be over before he led on his men. Fortunately, however, he met Sir John Colville of the Dale, and made him prisoner. By this accident Falstaff got possession of the noblest prisoner that was taken in that engagement. History has, however, neglected to record any reward that was given to Sir John for this instance of valour.

To relieve the attention of the reader, we shall now relate a different adventure of Sir John. There were two wealthy inhabi tants of Windsor, whose wives were among the merriest of the

place, and Sir John, by their fascinating and open manners, conceived that they were in love with him. He wrote each of them

an amorous epistle. The ladies met to contrive how to be revenged of him. It was agreed that one of them should encourage his addresses, and make an assignation to meet with Sir John. He obeyed the summons; but he had not long enjoyed the conversation of his friend, when the other lady rushed in upon them, and informed Sir John, that the husband was coming, with several of his neighbours, threatening vengeance against him. Upon this, Falstaff entreated that he might be concealed in a basket of foul linen, and carried away to the washerwoman, or any where, to evade the fury of the enraged husband. The knight was covered in the basket, and two servants, who were previously instructed how to dispose of him, hastened away, and tumbled him into the Thames in shallow water. Concerning this adventure, Sir John addressed his servant in the following language:

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"Go, fetch me a quart of sack; put a toast in it. Have I liv. ed to be carried in a basket like a barrow of butcher's offal, and to be thrown into the Thames! Well, if I be served such another trick, I'll have my brains ta'en out and buttered, and given to a dog for a new year's gift! The rogues sleighted me into the river with as little remorse as they would have drowned a bitch's blind puppies, fifteen i' the litter; and you may know by my size, that I have a kind of alacrity in sinking: If the bottom were as deep as hell, I should down. I had been drowned, but that the shore was shelvy and shallow; a death that I abhor, for the water swells a man! And what a thing should I have been when I had been swelled! I should have been a mountain of mummy! Come, let me pour in some sack to the Thames water, for my belly is as cold as if I had swallowed snow-balls for pills to cool the reins."

The two ladies, in order to satisfy their husbands, produced the letters sent them, and all were eager to be more completely revenged. For this purpose one of them made an assignation with him in the forest, where the men, women, and children, in the dress of fairies, were ready to attack him, and almost pinch him to death, and then discovering themselves, he was exposed to the ridicule of all the inhabitants of Windsor.

But leaving the region of poetry, all historians agree, that, in. stead of his being a coward, a glutton, or a drunkard, he was a