ice Sewall, one of the judges of the
Admiralty Court which had convicted the pirates, who did not think it
beneath his dignity to be present. It was then considered a public duty
to invest the scene of execution with as much awe as possible, and it
was thought that official station would emphasize this feeling.

The following extract from "The Boston News-Letter," August 21, 1721,
shows how in early times piratical craft, heavily manned and carrying
many guns, sailed the high seas and pursued their unlawful calling. The
vessel was taken somewhere in the Sargasso Sea, off the coast of Africa.

These are to Certifie all Persons concerned that on the 7th Day of
May last, William Russel, Master of the Ship Mary of Charlstown, in
his Voyage from Madera to Surranam in the Lat. 22 Deg. and 27 N. and
Long. 25 and 27 W. from London was taken by a Pirate Ship upwards of
50 Guns, Commanded by Capt. Roberts, about 300 Men, who robb'd him
of part of his Cargo, and Forced away from him two of his Men,
against his and their own consent, viz. Thomas Russel born in
Lexintown near Charlstown and the other Thomas Winchol born in
Portsmouth, New-Hampshire in New England.

I have been led to make these introductory remarks on account of a
manuscript recently given to the Library by Mrs. William B. Rogers,
eldest daughter and sole surviving child of Mr. James Savage, who was
for more than sixty years a member of this Society and for fourteen
years its President. It consists of an extract from a letter written by
her uncle William Savage to her father, dated at Havana, December 31,
1818, giving an account of the capture by pirates of the ship _Emma
Sophia_, off the Florida coast, of which vessel he was supercargo. Since
the receipt of the paper from Mrs. Rogers I have found in the "Boston
Daily Advertiser," February 3, 1819, a fuller version of the letter; and
for that reason I here follow the copy as given in the newspaper.
Anything that relates to Mr. Savage or his family will always be in
order at these meetings. At the unveiling of his bust in this room, on
April 12, 1906, Mr. Adams, the President, said that "with the single
exception of Mr. Winthrop no member of the Society since its beginning
has left upon it so deep and individual an impression" as Mr. Savage
has.

The account appears on the second page of the Advertiser, under the
heading of "Marine Journal," as follows:--