ws,
bowing to the spectators, hat in hand, was that of no whimpering
coward, and one admires him for that grimly sardonic touch of humor as
he warned the silent, curious multitude to take care "how they brought
money into New England, to be hanged for it." Among these devout and
somber Pilgrims and Puritans who Listened to that singularly moving
prayer, tremendous in its sincerity, were more than a few who were
bringing money into New England by means of trade in rum and negroes,
or very quietly buying and selling the merchandise fetched home by
pirates who were lucky enough to keep clear of the law. The
Massachusetts colonists dearly loved to make public parade of a rogue
caught in the act, and to see six pirates hanged at once was a rare
holiday indeed.

These only of the number convicted and condemned were hanged. All the
others were pardoned a year later by Queene Anne at the recommendation
of Governor Dudley, with the exhortation "that as they had now new
Lives given them, they should be new men, and be very faithful and
diligent in the Service of Her Majesty; who might as easily and justly
have ordered their Execution this day as sent their Pardon." As one
way of turning pirates to some useful account, these forgiven rogues
were promptly drafted into the royal navy as able seamen, and doubtless
made excellent food for powder.

Although a large part of that hundred weight of gold was successfully
concealed by Quelch and his comrades, either buried at the Isles of
Shoals, or otherwise spirited away, enough of it was recovered to
afford a division of the spoils among various officials in a manner so
suggestive of petty graft as to warrant the conclusion that piracy was
not entirely a maritime trade in Puritan Boston. Every man Jack of
them who had anything whatever to do with catching or keeping or
hanging Quelch and his fellows poked his fingers into the bag of gold.
It seems like very belated muck-raking to fish up the document that
tells in detail what became of so much of the Quelch treasure as fell
into the greedy hands of the authorities, but here are the tell-tale
figures:

"To Stephen North, who kept the Star Tavern in which the trial was
held, for entertainment of the Commissioners during the sitting of the
Court of Admiralty, and for Witnesses, Twenty-eight pounds, Eleven
shillings, and six pence.

"To Lieut. Gov. Usher, Expenses in securing and returning of James
Austin's Gold from the Province