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mind, who took with his ships the island of St. Catherine, notwithstanding its fort of hewn stone, and planned a Buccaneer republic. Morgan, fortunate both in his voyages and gambling, on the death of Mansveldt, with 12 craft and 700 fighting men, captured and pillaged Port-au-Prince, in Cuba, after a four hours' fight. His French confederates, growing dissatisfied with the cheating Welshman, separated; yet he took with only nine vessels and 470 men the strongly fortified Porto-Bello, which yielded the daredevils a booty of 250,000 pieces of eight, besides silks and rich merchandize, which these gentry little valued. We may reckon the piastre, or the piece of eight, as equivalent to the present Spanish or United States' dollar; but it should be borne in mind that the value of money was then fully double that of the present time. Morgan's next operation was an attack on Maracaibo and Gibraltar, which unfortunate towns were again sacked, though their assailants had a narrow escape on their return, for the Spaniards had had time to put in order a castle at the entrance of the lagoon, and three large men-of-war had arrived to cut off their retreat. Always bold and ready, the nimble-witted Welshman fitted up a vessel as a fire-ship, with quaker guns and dressed logs for its crew, which succeeded in blowing up the Spanish admiral's ship, and he took the second, while the third ship's crew sank their vessel in despair; the castle was passed by a clever stratagem which threw its garrison off their guard, so true it is "fortune favours the bold." The Treaty of America between the two then greatest maritime nations, Britain and Spain, gave the latter opportunity of extirpating the incessant foes who attacked the vital sources of her strength in desolating the American colonies. But the unrepresented Brethren of the Coast were regardless of treaties in which they had no voice, and which endeavoured to foreclose rights founded on what Rob Roy calle "the good old plan—

That they should take who have the power-
And they should keep who can."

At the end of 1670, Morgan fitted out a fleet of 37 vessels with no fewer than 2,000 men, and determined to attack Panama, a city defended by a rampart and surrounded by a wall, the emporium for the silver of Mexico and the gold of Peru, and the Pacific staple of the negro slave-trade. He took St. Catherine's Island, and captured the Castle of San Lorenzo on the mainland at the entrance of the serpentine river of Chagre; and thus establishing a pied à terre on the Atlantic side of the wild and perilous isthmus, he set forward on January 18th, 1671, at the head of 1,200 men, for the Pacific side. After enduring great hardships through hunger, climate, and the unfriendly Indians, the small marine army, on the ninth day of their hazardous march, beheld the expanse of the South Sea before them, and the church towers of Panama in view. All next day was desperate conflict; but the city of 7,000 houses was theirs, to the stupefaction of the New World. After four weeks of spoliation, Morgan and his men departed from the still smouldering city, with 175 mules laden with the plunder, and some 600 prisoners. When the immense booty, which included 443,200lbs.weight of silver alone; came to be divided at their return to the Atlantic, Admiral Morgan was again accused of cheating, the share per man being only 200 pieces of eight; the wily leader shortly afterwards putting to sea with his own vessel, and sailing to Jamaica. Our Atlantic Barbarossa ended his career more fortunately than the Mediterranean scourge of the Spaniard, for he settled some time at Jamaica, was even its deputy governor in 1681, some of his old associates suffering "the extreme hardship of being tried and hanged under his authority," and went to England, where he was knighted by that "merry Monarch" who sold Dunkirk; he was also appointed a commissioner o the Admiralty Court in Jamaica! Morgan died peacefully in England.

The Brethren of the Coast now rapidly degenerated; not that there were wanting spirits of the old stamp, but, amongst other causes, the war of William III. with France broke asunder the old ties of amity between the French and English, and by the Treaty of Ryswick, in 1697, these two cabinets co-operated in earnest to clear out the lawless rovers. If the results were not on so grand a scale, the narratives of hardy endurance, and boldly-planned enterprises and successes gained by selfreliant temerity, which still stud the accounts of the Brethren in the closing part of the seventeenth century, are not to be easily paralleled, and are as interesting as the most lively fiction. As our last sketch, we will give one incident from their latter deeds, strong in likeness to the rest, of how the city of Chiloteca was taken by 18 men. These adventurers rushed into the city, which was inhabited by 400 Spaniards, exclusive of negroes, mulattos, and Indians, uttering vehement cries, and, by this sudden irruption, they inspired such a terror that the inhabitants did not even think of defending theinselves; and in a moment the Freebooters were masters of the place.-Prior to Morgan there had been the combined trio of commanders, Van Horn, a rich old Dutch rover, a French gentleman named Grammont, and Laurent de Gratt, who had been a skilful engineer in the Spanish service against his future associates; these three took the great city of Vera Cruz. Perhaps none stood out more prominently than Alexander Iron-arm and Montbars the Exterminator-a significant appellation: a pair of portraits we refrain from attempting. Succeeding Morgan were many daring adventurers, who were only eclipsed by the more extensive exploits of the Welsh knight. There were Thomas Peche, an Englishman, and La Sound, a Frenchman, who unsuccessfully attempted Morgan's greatest feat; besides Captains Coxon, Harris, Sawkins, Watling, and many another who penetrated into the South Seas. In the latter expeditions there were several men of no mean literary ability, who wrote their own interesting adventures, and thus largely increased the store of geographical and other knowledge of the New World. Among these was Lionel Wafer, a surgeon, who wrote one of the best accounts of savage life extant, and who had with him, when left temporarily with the Darien Indians, one Jopling, a seaman who could read Greek; and, by the way, a Church of England bishop, and a good Grecian as well, was always strongly suspected of having been a-buccaneering on the Spanish main in his younger days! But the chief of all these chroniclers is homely and veracious William Dampier, who though little else than a common seaman, was possessed of some education and a power of observation, well made use of, as his often-quoted Voyages testify.

The commencement of the next century saw the rapid decline of the stricter confederation, and "No peace with the Spaniard" was becoming quickly changed to "Friends of God and enemies to all mankind." The Brethren of the Coast sank into the Newgate heroes with whom we were all tolerably familiar in our childhood, as represented in glaringly-coloured folding frontispieces to chap-book Adventures of Blackbeard fitting up a miniature hell; Avery capturing the Great Mogul's daughter and fabulous Oriental riches; Kyd, the doubtful discovery of whose buried treasures still furnishes an occasional paragraph to American newspapers; and even two Amazon captain-pirates, nowise behind their male mates in courage or cruelty. There was also a gallant French freethinking gentleman, one Misson, with very advanced opinions, practically enforced, against the universally legal slave-trade, and who, with an Englishman, self-dubbed Admiral Tew, vainly attempted to found an independent state in Madagas

car. But their

piracy for ever.

race was run, and the day had gone down on organized As the Rev. Charles Kingsley puts it-

But Scripture saith an ending to all fine things must be,

So the king's ships sailed on Aves, and quite put down were we;

All day we fought like tigers, but they burst the booms at night,

And I fled in a piragua, sore wounded from the fight.

But as I lay a-gasping a Bristol sail came by,

And brought me home to England, to beg until I die."

And thus dwindled out and expired a confederation that only needed a common principle of union to have founded a state to have taken rank amongst the great powers of the earth: one great mind, and the New Southern World might have been their own. But from the first there were the non-fusing elements of different race and creed, and their line was never renewed by themselves; yet the Brethren of the Coast, without fixed rules or any determinate object-without a real thirst for fame instigated solely by the attraction of momentary enjoyment-formed such a corporation that the annals of mankind do not offer a second like it— displayed that energy and those mental and corporeal powers by means of which great undertakings are carried into execution-and by their singular achievements have deserved, if not the admiration, at least the astonishment of posterity.

THE BRIGHT BLUE SKY.

BY CHARLES MACKAY.

THOUGH Love may fade with early prime,
As the cowslips fade on the fallow lea,
Yet Friendship cheers the face of time,
As the sunshine gilds the apple tree;
The morning's pain may be evening's gain,
And sometimes 'mid the flowers we fall;

And the sun for thee is the light to me,
And the Bright Blue Sky bends over all.

'Tis true that youthful hopes deceive,

But ever the flowers return with Spring;
The tenderest love has cause to grieve,

But still when the young birds pair they sing.
The west winds play with the leaves of May,
And the peach hangs ripe on the garden wall;
And the blossoms grow and the fountains flow,
And the Bright Blue Sky bends over all.

The Reason lives when Fancy dies,

For the season's blessings never fail ;
And Winter has often brighter skies

Than April with her sleet and hail.

Our joys and our cares are wheat and tares,

And our griefs, when ripe, like the fruit must fall;

And come what will, 'tis justice still,

For the Bright Blue Sky bends over all.

MR. TIDD PRATT ON FRIENDLY SOCIETIES.*

THE substantial advantages the members of Friendly Societies derive in the form of allowances during sickness, and in other natural misfortunes, are greatly enhanced in value, by the consciousness, that such advantages are the fruits, not of benevolence or of the charity of others, but of the members' own frugality and prudence. This feeling must be consoling in the highest degree, and must tend very much to soothe the mind in the severest afflictions, when, of all times, tranquillity is most desirable, and even necessary. Indeed, few things can be conceived more gratifying, than the enjoyment of benefits which we feel conscious results from our own exertions, raising us in our own estimation, making us feel that we are of some value in society; that we contribute to its welfare by our labour, without being burdens upon it in our misfortunes. One of the most obvious and immediate advantages that would result to the nation at large from the extensive establishment of Friendly Societies, founded on accurate calculations and sound principles, would be a sensible diminution in the poor's rates. As to the origin of self-helping societies, we learn from Theophrastus, who flourished B.C. 288, that associations of this nature were instituted by the Athenians, certain of whom had a common chest, into which monthly contributions were paid, and a fund raised for affording relief to any of the members in adverse fortune. Among the Romans, Burial Clubs were instituted, to which the payment was about 15s. entrance money, and about 2d. per month subscription, for which the sum of £2 5s. was allotted at death for funeral expenses. In Great Britain the origin of Friendly Societies may be traced to the Saxon Guilds, prior to the conquest; but the first record in England of Friendly Societies under that appellation, is not to be found till the beginning of the last century.

LEGISLATION AFFECTING FRIENDLY SOCIETIES.

In 1772, Mr. Cursitor-Baron Mazeres brought forward a plan, which passed the Commons, but which was rejected by the Lords, for establishing life annuities in parishes for the benefit of the industrious poor, to be charged upon the parochial assessments. In the following year, a bill to enable parishes to grant annuities for life to poor persons was brought into the Commons. This was the first instance of the attention of the legisla ture being called to the wisdom of protecting and encouraging these societies. The bill passed the Commons and not the Lords. In 1786, the Rev. John Ackland brought forward a plan for compulsory contributions for benefits, but this plan never came before parliament. The first Friendly Societies' Act was passed in 1793. Since that time several alterations have been made, and the whole was repealed by Act 18 and 19 Vict., c. 63, on July 23rd, 1855-the Act now in force.

* The substance of a Lecture delivered in Brighton, on the 10th of May, by the Registrar of Friendly Societies in England. The arrangements for the lecture were made by the Brighton and Sussex Mutual Provident Society, but the attendance of meinbers of all Friendly Societies was invited. His Worship the Mayor occupied the chair, and the room was well filled. This paper has been reduced from a Report in the Brighton Gazette, and has since been revised by the Lecturer. It will be seen that Mr. Tidd Pratt in some measure meets the objections urged in Mr. Hardwick's article in this Number, especially referring, towards the close of his discourse, to the mischievous clause introduced last session into the Friendly Societies" Act.-ED.

THE OBJECTS AND BENEFITS OF SUCH SOCIETIES.

A number of individuals forming themselves into a society, and subscribing each a small sum, are able to secure a comfortable provision for themselves in the event of their becoming unfit for labour, which any single individual, however parsimonious and industrious, might be prevented from doing by the occurrence of any accident or an obstinate fit of sickness, throwing him out of employment and consuming his savings. There is much of importance for the founders of such societies to consider. To meet the claims from year to year is not sufficient, because increased sickness accompanies increased age; and a season of cholera, or of an unusual amount of sickness, may occur at any time; but an annual surplus should remain, especially during the first ten or fifteen years of the society's existence, to enable the fund to meet the demands for sick pay, which would certainly increase, even under the most favourable circumstances, as the members become older. A Friendly Society, during the first ten years of its existence, would probably not have more than one-half the amount of sickness claims which it would have during the next ten years. The greater the number of members in a Friendly Society, the greater would be the probability that the sickness per member would amount to the average quantity upon which the tables have been constructed; or, in other words, the larger the amount of experience, the more correct will be the average. The regulations, sometimes introduced, of limiting the number of members in a Friendly Society must therefore have an injurious effect upon the society's operations. The allowance in sickness, I submit, should not extend through life, but cease at the age of sixty, when the contributions and payments should cease. A government annuity should be subscribed for, commencing at the age at which the sickness allowances cease. Graduated tables of payments according to age are indispensable to the well-being of any society. The general law relating to sickness being, that it increases in amount with age, any body of men forming and carrying on a Friendly Society with insufficient rates of payment, or by sharing, dividing, lowering the contributions, or by any other means disposing of, as a surplus, that money which might be no surplus at all when the liabilities of the society are considered, are deceiving themselves; and this will become too painfully apparent when the members, by reason of old age or infirmity, will be least able to bear the consequences of such mismanagement; or, still worse, the widows and orphans may have cause to repent the shortsighted policy of receiving contributions insufficient to secure the promised benefits, or of sharing the money which should have buried the deceased member, and helped to support those left without a protector. Therefore it is advisable in no case to divide any portion of the funds as a bonus among the members, or to lower the contributious, &c., except under the advice of an experienced actuary. If possible, it is desirable in founding a society to limit the members to one or other class of occupation. Where this is not practicable, it is essential to take the tables of rates framed from experience of the class employed in heavy labour, because those scales, being adapted to the greater risks, always comprehend the lesser.

MEDICAL ATTENDANCE.

In all societies of this nature an arrangement should be entered into with a regular medical practitioner to attend the members in cases of sickness or accident. The charge for this attendance varies from about 2s. 6d. to 5s. per annum for each adult. This arrangement, with a rule that a member should not belong, for the same benefit, to more than one Friendly Society

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