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inches; which crust being broken open by iron contrived for that purpose, they knocked out whole bushels of rusty pieces of eight which were grown thereinto. Besides that incredible treasure of plate in various forms, thus fetched up, from seven or eight fathom under water, there were vast riches of gold, and pearls, and jewels, which they also lit upon; and, indeed, for a more comprehensive invoice, I must but summarily say, "All that a Spanish frigate uses to be enriched withal." Thus did they continue fishing till, their provisions failing them, 'twas time to be gone.

Captain Phips now coming up to London in the year 1687, with near three hundred thousand pounds sterling1 aboard him, did acquit himself with such an exemplary honesty, that partly by his fulfilling his assurances to the seamen, and partly by his exact and punctual care to have his employers defrauded of nothing that might conscientiously belong unto them, he had less than sixteen thousand pounds left unto himself; as an acknowledgment of which honesty in him, the Duke of Albemarle made unto his wife, whom he never saw, a present of a golden cup, near a thousand pound in value. The king, in consideration of the service done by him in bringing such a treasure into the nation, conferred upon him the honor of knighthood; and if we now reckon him a knight of the golden fleece,2 the style might pretend unto some circumstances that would justify it.

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What qualities has Captain Phips to a very high degree? How do you know? What quality do you find in the second incident that always makes for success? Does Captain Phips seem a real or a “storybook" hero? Why? Which is more interesting to you, the character of the hero, or the plot of the story? Or is the one made interesting because of the other?

SUGGESTIONS FOR ORAL AND WRITTEN ENGLISH

THEME SUBJECTS

What methods of portraying character are employed by the author? (See suggestions on Wee Willie Winkie, p. 89.) Write a story on "The Hunt for Buried Treasure" in which the plot is the important feature. Write a story on the same topic in which the character of the leader is delineated by means of the plot. Describe to a friend the character of Captain Phips. Can you compare him with some one both of you know?

The Story (as told by one of the con- Raising the Maine.

spirators).
An Unexpected Discovery.
The Story (as told by the carpenter). Pirate Tales that I Like.
What the Diver Found.

Learning to Dive.

An Incident from Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea.

SUGGESTIONS FOR ADDITIONAL READINGS

The Goldbug. Edgar Allan Poe.

Treasure Island. Robert Louis Stevenson.

To Have and to Hold. Mary Johnston.

Stolen Treasure. Howard Pyle.

The Pirate. Sir Walter Scott.

Buccaneers and Pirates of our Coast. Frank R. Stockton.
Ocean Life in the Old Sailing-Ship Days. J. D. Whidden.
Two Years Before the Mast. R. H. Dana, Jr.

SPEECH ON A RESOLUTION TO PUT VIRGINIA

INTO A STATE OF DEFENSE

PATRICK HENRY

The British government had taxed the colonies without representation besides heaping many other indignities upon them. The whole country was finally aroused to a state of the highest excitement. The Virginia convention assembled on March 28, 1775, to decide whether Virginia should be put into a state of defense. When a resolution to do this was offered, Patrick Henry (1736–1799), a young Virginia lawyer, one of a group of eloquent orators of that time, arose and delivered this famous speech. After reading it, you will understand how he created the wildest enthusiasm on this occasion. In old St. John's Church in Richmond, Virginia, a brass tablet marks the spot where he stood when delivering this speech. See also:

Morgan's The True Patrick Henry.

Wirt's Life of Patrick Henry.

1

MR. PRESIDENT, it is natural for man to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and to listen to the song of that siren 1 till she transforms us into beasts. Is this the part of wise men engaged in the great and arduous struggle for liberty? Are we disposed to be of the number of those who having eyes see not, and having ears hear not, the things which so nearly concern their temporal salvation? For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth; to know the worst, and to provide for it.

I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided and that is the lamp of experience. I know of no way of judging

1 Circe, the enchantress who turned Ulysses' men into swine and other loathsome beasts.

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your feet. Suffer not yourselves to be betrayed with a kiss. Ask yourselves how this gracious reception of our petition comports with those warlike preparations which cover our waters and darken our land. Are fleets and armies necessary to a work of love and reconciliation? Have we shown ourselves so unwilling to be reconciled that force must be I called in to win back our love?

Let us not deceive ourselves, sir. These are the implements of war and subjugation, the last argument to which kings resort. I ask, sir, what means this martial array, if its purposes be not to force us to submission? Can gentlemen assign any other possible motive for it? Has Great Britain any enemy in this quarter of the world to call for all this accumulation of navies and armies? No, sir, she has none. They are meant for us. They can be meant for no other. They are sent over to bind and rivet upon us

those chains which the British Ministry have been so long forging.

And what have we to oppose them? Shall we try argument? Sir, we have been trying that for the last ten years. Have we anything new to offer upon the subject? Nothing. We have held the subject up in every light of which it is capable; but it has been all in vain. Shall we resort to entreaty and supplication? What terms shall we find that have not been already exhausted? Let us not, I beseech you, sir, deceive ourselves longer. Sir, we have done everything that could have been done to avert the storm that is now coming on. We have petitioned, we have remonstrated, we have supplicated, we have prostrated ourselves before the throne, and have implored its interposition to arrest the tyrannical hands of the Ministry and Parliament. Our petitions have been slighted, our remonstrances have produced additional violence and insult, our supplications have been disregarded, and we have been spurned with contempt from the foot of the throne. In vain, after these things, may we indulge the fond hope of peace and reconciliation. There is no longer any room for hope. If we wish to be free, if we mean to preserve inviolate these inestimable privileges for which we have been so long contending, if we mean not basely to abandon the noble struggle in which we have been so long engaged, and which we have pledged ourselves never to abandon until the glorious object of our contest shall be obtained, we must fight! I repeat, sir, we must fight! An appeal to arms and to the God of hosts is all that is left us.

They tell us, sir, that we are weak; unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house? Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of effectual

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