True Stories From History and Biography (7 page)

"I am sorry for it," observed Laurence; "for, though they were so stern,
yet it seems to me that there was something warm and real about them. I
think, Grandfather, that each of these old governors should have his
statue set up in our State House, sculptured out of the hardest of New
England granite."

"It would not be amiss, Laurence," said Grandfather; "but perhaps clay, or
some other perishable material, might suffice for some of their
successors. But let us go back to our chair. It was occupied by Governor
Bradstreet from April, 1689, until May, 1692. Sir William Phips then
arrived in Boston, with a new charter from King William, and a commission
to be governor."

"And what became of the chair," inquired Clara.

"The outward aspect of our chair," replied Grandfather, "was now somewhat
the worse for its long and arduous services. It was considered hardly
magnificent enough to be allowed to keep its place in the council chamber
of Massachusetts. In fact, it was banished as an article of useless
lumber. But Sir William Phips happened to see it and being much pleased
with its construction, resolved to take the good old chair into his
private mansion. Accordingly, with his own gubernatorial hands, he
repaired one of its arms, which had been slightly damaged".

"Why, Grandfather, here is the very arm!" interrupted Charley, in great
wonderment. "And did Sir William Phips put in these screws with his own
hands? I am sure, he did it beautifully! But how came a governor to know
how to mend a chair?"

"I will tell you a story about the early life of Sir William Phips," said
Grandfather. "You will then perceive, that he well knew how to use his
hands."

So Grandfather related the wonderful and true tale of

Picture to yourselves, my dear children, a handsome, old-fashioned room,
with a large, open cupboard at one end, in which is displayed a
magnificent gold cup, with some other splendid articles of gold and silver
plate. In another part of the room, opposite to a tall looking-glass,
stands our beloved chair, newly polished, and adorned with a gorgeous
cushion of crimson velvet tufted with gold.

In the chair sits a man of strong and sturdy frame, whose face has been
roughened by northern tempests, and blackened by the burning sun of the
West Indies. He wears an immense periwig, flowing down over his shoulders.
His coat has a wide embroidery of golden foliage; and his waistcoat,
likewise, is all flowered over and bedizened with gold. His red, rough
hands, which have done many a good day's work with the hammer and adze,
are half covered by the delicate lace ruffles at his wrists. On a table
lies his silver-hilted sword, and in a corner of the room stands his
gold-headed cane, made of a beautifully polished West Indian wood.

Somewhat such an aspect as this, did Sir William Phips present, when he
sat in Grandfather's chair, after the king had appointed him governor of
Massachusetts. Truly, there was need that the old chair should be
varnished, and decorated with a crimson cushion, in order to make it
suitable for such a magnificent looking personage.

But Sir William Phips had not always worn a gold embroidered coat, nor
always sat so much at his ease as he did in Grandfather's chair. He was a
poor man's son, and was born in the province of Maine, where he used to
tend sheep upon the hills, in his boyhood and youth. Until he had grown to
be a man, he did not even know how to read and write. Tired of tending
sheep, he next apprenticed himself to a ship-carpenter, and spent about
four years in hewing the crooked limbs of oak trees into knees for
vessels.

In 1673, when he was twenty-two years old, he came to Boston, and soon
afterwards was married to a widow lady, who had property enough to set him
up in business. It was not long, however, before he lost all the money
that he had acquired by his marriage, and became a poor man again. Still,
he was not discouraged. He often told his wife that, some time or other,
he should be very rich, and would build a "fair brick house" in the Green
Lane of Boston.

Do not suppose, children, that he had been to a fortune-teller to inquire
his destiny. It was his own energy and spirit of enterprise, and his
resolution to lead an industrious life, that made him look forward with so
much confidence to better days.

Several years passed away; and William Phips had not yet gained the riches
which he promised to himself. During this time he had begun to follow the
sea for a living. In the year 1684, he happened to hear of a Spanish ship,
which had been cast away near the Bahama Islands, and which was supposed
to contain a great deal of gold and silver. Phips went to the place in a
small vessel, hoping that he should be able to recover some of the
treasure from the wreck. He did not succeed, however, in fishing up gold
and silver enough to pay the expenses of his voyage.

But, before he returned, he was told of another Spanish ship or galleon,
which had been cast away near Porto de la Plata. She had now lain as much
as fifty years beneath the waves. This old ship had been laden with
immense wealth; and, hitherto, nobody had thought of the possibility of
recovering any part of it from the deep sea, which was rolling and tossing
it about. But though it was now an old story, and the most aged people had
almost forgotten that such a vessel had been wrecked. William Phips
resolved that the sunken treasure should again be brought to light.

He went to London, and obtained admittance to King James, who had not yet
been driven from his throne. He told the king of the vast wealth that was
lying at the bottom of the sea. King James listened with attention, and
thought this a fine opportunity to fill his treasury with Spanish gold. He
appointed William Phips to be captain of a vessel, called the Rose Algier,
carrying eighteen guns and ninety-five men. So now he was Captain Phips of
the English navy.

Captain Phips sailed from England in the Rose Algier, and cruised for
nearly two years in the West Indies, endeavoring to find the wreck of the
Spanish ship. But the sea is so wide and deep, that it is no easy matter
to discover the exact spot where a sunken vessel lies. The prospect of
success seemed very small; and most people would have thought that Captain
Phips was as far from having money enough to build a "fair brick house,"
as he was while he tended sheep.

The seamen of the Rose Algier became discouraged, and gave up all hope of
making their fortunes by discovering the Spanish wreck. They wanted to
compel Captain Phips to turn pirate. There was a much better prospect,
they thought, of growing rich by plundering vessels, which still sailed
the sea, than by seeking for a ship that had lain beneath the waves full
half a century. They broke out in open mutiny, but were finally mastered
by Phips, and compelled to obey his orders. It would have been dangerous,
however, to continue much longer at sea with such a crew of mutinous
sailors; and, besides, the Rose Algier was leaky and unseaworthy. So
Captain Phips judged it best to return to England.

Before leaving the West Indies, he met with a Spaniard, an old man, who
remembered the wreck of the Spanish ship, and gave him directions how to
find the very spot. It was on a reef of rocks a few leagues from Porto de
la Plata.

On his arrival in England, therefore, Captain Phips solicited the king to
let him have another vessel, and send him back again to the West Indies.
But King James, who had probably expected that the Rose Algier would
return laden with gold, refused to have any thing more to do with the
affair. Phips might never have been able to renew the search, if the Duke
of Albemarle, and some other noblemen had not lent their assistance. They
fitted out a ship and gave the command to Captain Phips. He sailed from
England, and arrived safely at Porto de la Plata, where he took an adze
and assisted his men to build a large boat.

The boat was intended for the purpose of going closer to the reef of rocks
than a large vessel could safely venture. When it was finished, the
Captain sent several men in it, to examine the spot where the Spanish ship
was said to have been wrecked. They were accompanied by some Indians, who
were skilful divers, and could go down a great way into the depths of the
sea.

The boat's crew proceeded to the reef of rocks, and rowed round and round
it, a great many times. They gazed down into the water, which was so
transparent that it seemed as if they could have seen the gold and silver
at the bottom, had there been any of those precious metals there. Nothing,
however, could they see; nothing more valuable than a curious sea shrub,
which was growing beneath the water, in a crevice of the reef of rocks. It
flaunted to and fro with the swell and reflux of the waves, and looked as
bright and beautiful as if its leaves were gold.

"We won't go back empty-handed," cried an English sailor; and then he
spoke to one of the Indian divers. "Dive down and bring me that pretty sea
shrub there. That's the only treasure we shall find!"

Down plunged the diver, and soon rose dripping from the water, holding the
sea shrub in his hand. But he had learnt some news at the bottom of the
sea.

"There are some ship's guns," said he, the moment he had drawn breath,
"some great cannon among the rocks, near where the shrub was growing."

No sooner had he spoken, than the English sailors knew that they had found
the very spot where the Spanish galleon had been wrecked so many years
before. The other Indian divers immediately plunged over the boat's side,
and swam headlong down, groping among the rocks and sunken cannon. In a
few moments one of them rose above the water, with a heavy lump of silver
in his arms. That single lump was worth more than a thousand dollars. The
sailors took it into the boat, and then rowed back as speedily as they
could, being in haste to inform Captain Phips of their good luck.

But, confidently as the Captain had hoped to find the Spanish wreck, yet
now that it was really found, the news seemed too good to be true. He
could not believe it till the sailors showed him the lump of silver.

"Thanks be to God!" then cries Captain Phips. "We shall every man of us
make our fortunes!"

Hereupon the Captain and all the crew set to work, with iron rakes and
great hooks and lines, fishing for gold and silver at the bottom of the
sea. Up came the treasure in abundance. Now they beheld a table of solid
silver, once the property of an old Spanish Grandee. Now they found a
sacramental vessel, which had been destined as a gift to some Catholic
church. Now they drew up a golden cup, fit for the king of Spain to drink
his wine out of. Perhaps the bony hand of its former owner had been
grasping the precious cup, and was drawn up along with it. Now their rakes
or fishing lines were loaded with masses of silver bullion. There were
also precious stones among the treasure, glittering and sparkling, so that
it is a wonder how their radiance could have been concealed.

There is something sad and terrible in the idea of snatching all this
wealth from the devouring ocean, which had possessed it for such a length
of years. It seems as if men had no right to make themselves rich with it.
It ought to have been left with the skeletons of the ancient Spaniards,
who had been drowned when the ship was wrecked, and whose bones were now
scattered among the gold and silver.

But Captain Phips and his crew were troubled with no such thoughts as
these. After a day or two they lighted on another part of the wreck, where
they found a great many bags of silver dollars. But nobody could have
guessed that these were money-bags. By remaining so long in the
salt-water, they had become covered over with a crust which had the
appearance of stone, so that it was necessary to break them in pieces with
hammers and axes. When this was done, a stream of silver dollars gushed
out upon the deck of the vessel.

The whole value of the recovered treasure, plate, bullion, precious
stones, and all, was estimated at more than two millions of dollars. It
was dangerous even to look at such a vast amount of wealth. A sea captain,
who had assisted Phips in the enterprise, utterly lost his reason at the
sight of it. He died two years afterwards, still raving about the
treasures that lie at the bottom of the sea. It would have been better for
this man, if he had left the skeletons of the shipwrecked Spaniards in
quiet possession of their wealth.

Captain Phips and his men continued to fish up plate, bullion, and
dollars, as plentifully as ever, till their provisions grew short. Then,
as they could not feed upon gold and silver any more than old King Midas
could, they found it necessary to go in search of better sustenance. Phips
resolved to return to England. He arrived there in 1687, and was received
with great joy by the Duke of Albemarle and the other English lords, who
had fitted out the vessel. Well they might rejoice; for they took by far
the greater part of the treasure to themselves.

The Captain's share, however, was enough to make him comfortable for the
rest of his days. It also enabled him to fulfil his promise to his wife,
by building a "fair brick house," in the Green Lane of Boston. The Duke of
Albemarle sent Mrs. Phips a magnificent gold cup, worth at least five
thousand dollars. Before Captain Phips left London, King James made him a
knight; so that, instead of the obscure ship-carpenter who had formerly
dwelt among them, the inhabitants of Boston welcomed him on his return, as
the rich and famous Sir William Phips.

"Sir William Phips," continued Grandfather, "was too active and
adventurous a man to sit still in the quiet enjoyment of his good fortune.
In the year 1690, he went on a military expedition against the French
colonies in America, conquered the whole province of Acadie, and returned
to Boston with a great deal of plunder."