he governors gave them relative to their cruises and the protection
of the trade of the colonies, and the Governor, by his commission, had
power in case of any great crime committed by any of the captains of
men of war, to suspend them, and the next officer was to succeed.

"The Governor required Captain Short to order part of the men belonging
to the _Nonesuch_ upon some service, which I do not find mentioned,
probably to some cruiser, there being many picaroons about the eastern
coasts, but he refused to do it. This was ill taken by the Governor;
and meeting Captain Short in the street, warm words passed, and at
length the Governor made use of his cane and broke Short's head. Not
content with this, he committed him to prison. The right of a governor
to commit by his own warrant had not then been questioned.

"From the prison he removed him to the castle, and from those on board
a merchant bound to London, to be delivered to the order of one of
their Majesties' principal secretaries of state; giving the master a
warrant or authority to do so. The vessel, by some accident, put into
Portsmouth in New Hampshire. Sir William who seems to have been
sensible of some irregularity in these proceedings, went to Portsmouth,
required the master of the merchantman to return him the warrant, which
he tore to pieces, and then ordered the cabin of the ship to be opened,
secured Short's chests, and examined the contents.

"Short was prevented going home in this vessel, and went to New York to
take passage from thence for England; but Sir F. Wheeler arriving soon
after at Boston, went for him and carried him home with him. The next
officer succeeded in the command of the ship, until a new captain
arrived from England. Short was restored to the command of as good a
ship."

King William refused to depose the famous treasure finder without
hearing what he had to say in his defense, and Sir William stoutly
swore that those whom he had punished got no more than they deserved.
A strong party had been mustered against him, however, and he waged an
uphill fight for vindication until Death, the one foe for whom he did
not think himself a match, took him by the heels and laid him in a
vault beneath the Church of St. Mary Woolnoth, London. A guide-book of
that city, published in 1708, contained this description of the
memorial placed therein:

"At the east end of the Church of St. Mary Woolnoth, near the northeast
angle, is a pretty