his boarders to be called away, and as soon as mustered they were ordered to take possession of the prize. Some of the men actually got on the gunwale of the latter ship; but finding boarders ready to repel boarders, they made a precipitate retreat. All this time the topmen were not idle, and the enemy were soon again driven below with loss.

In the meanwhile, Mr. Dale, who no longer held a gun that could be fought, mustered the prisoners at the pumps, turning their consternation to account, and probably keeping the Richard afloat by the very blunder that had been so near losing her. The ships were now on fire again; and both parties, with the exception of a few guns at each side, ceased firing in order to subdue this dangerous enemy. In the course of the combat the Serapis is said to have been set on fire no less than twelve times; while towards its close, as will be seen in the sequel, the Richard was burning all the time.

As soon as order was restored in the Richard, after the call for quarter, her chance of success began to increase; while the English, driven under cover almost to a man, appear to have lost, in a great degree, the hope of victory. Their fire materially slackened, while the Richard again brought a few more guns to bear. The main-mast of the Serapis began to totter, and her resistance in general to lessen. About an hour after the explosion, or between three hours and three hours and a-half after the first gun was fired, and between two hours and two hours and

F

a-half after the ships were lashed together, Captain Pearson hauled down the colours of the Serapis with his own hand-the men refusing to expose themselves to the fire of the Richard's tops.

As soon as it was known that the colours of the English had been lowered, Mr. Dale got upon the gunwale of the Richard, and, laying hold of the mainbrace pendant, he swung himself on board of the Serapis. On the quarter-deck of the latter he found Captain Pearson almost alone,-that gallant officer having maintained his post throughout the whole of this dire and murderous conflict. Just as Mr. Dale addressed the British captain, the first lieutenant of the Serapis came up from below to inquire if the Richard had struck-the fire having entirely ceased. Mr. Dale gave the English officer to understand that he was mistaken in the position of things, the Serapis having struck to the Richard, and not the Richard to the Serapis. Captain Pearson confirming this account, his subordinate acquiesced, offering to go below and silence the guns that were still playing on the American ship. To this Mr. Dale would not consent; both the officers were immediately passed on board the Richard, and the firing was then stopped below. Mr. Dale had been closely followed to the quarter-deck of the Serapis by Mr. Myrant, a midshipman, and a party of boarders; and as the former reached the quarter-deck of the prize, he was run through the thigh with a boardingpike in the hands of a man in the waist, who was ignorant of the surrender. Thus did the close of this

"Mr. Dale had been closely followed to the quarter-deck of the Serapis by Mr. Myrant, a midshipman, and a party of boarders, and as the former reached the quarter-deck of the prize, he was run through the thigh with a boarding pike in the hands of a man in the waist who was ignorant of the surrender."-Page 82.

remarkable combat resemble its other features in singularity, blood being shed and shot fired while the boarding officer was in amicable discourse with his prisoner.

Although the protracted and bloody combat had now ended, neither the danger nor the labour of the victor was over. The Richard was both sinking and

on fire.

JOAN D'ARC.

IN the Middle Ages the belief was prevalent, that particular individuals were gifted with supernatural powers, as instruments of a higher will, which explains the extraordinary character and conduct of Joan of Arc, the Maid of Orleans. After the death of Charles VI., king of France, in 1422, Henry VI. of England, then a child of nine months old, was proclaimed king of France, according to the treaty of Troyes, (1420.) His uncle, the Duke of Bedford, acted as regent. France had been distracted for forty-two years by civil dissensions. On one side were Queen Isabella, the Duke of Burgundy, and England; on the other, the dauphin Charles, who had been abandoned by his own mother, was supported by the Orleans party. This division, and the talents of the English generals,