Newgate, was handed over to the good offices of the prison Ordinary;
or, if in New England, to such vigorous apostles of Christianity as the
Rev. Cotton or the Rev. Increase Mather. The former of these two famous
theologians was pastor of the North Church in Boston, and the author of a
very rare work published in 1695, called "An History of Some Criminals
Executed in This Land." Cotton Mather preached many a "hanging" sermon to
condemned pirates, a few of which can still be read. One of these,
preached in 1704, is called "A Brief Discourse occasioned by a Tragical
Spectacle of a Number of Miserables under Sentence of Death for Piracy."

The Reverend Doctor made a speciality of these "hanging" sermons, and was
a thorough master of his subject, as is shown by the following passage
taken from the above "Brief Discourse":

"The Privateering Stroke so easily degenerates into the Piratical; and the
Privateering Trade is usually carried on with an Unchristian Temper, and
proves an Inlet unto so much Debauchery and Iniquity."

On the Sunday previous to an execution the condemned pirates were taken to
church to listen to a sermon while they were "exhibited" to the crowded
and gaping congregation. On the day of the execution a procession was
formed, which marched from the gaol to the gallows.

At the head was carried a silver oar, the emblem from very early days of a
pirate execution. Arrived at the gibbet, the prisoner, who always dressed
himself in his, or someone else's, best clothes, would doff his hat and
make a speech.

Sometimes the bolder spirits would speak in a defiant and unrepentant way;
but most of them professed a deep repentance for their sins and warned
their listeners to guard against the temptation of drink and avarice.
After the prisoner's death the bodies of the more notorious pirates were
taken down and hanged in chains at some prominent spot where ships passed,
in order to be a warning to any mariners who had piratical leanings.

The number of pirates or buccaneers who died in their beds must have been
very small, particularly amongst the former; and I have been able to trace
but a single example of a tombstone marking the burial-place of a pirate.
This is, or was until recently, to be found in the graveyard at Dartmouth,
and records the resting-place of the late Captain Thomas Goldsmith, who
commanded the _Snap Dragon_, of Dartmouth, in which vessel he amassed much
riches during the reign of Queen Anne,