on which they took in fail immediately, and let go the fmall bower anchor, which brought up the fhip at a whole cable, and the rode for about an hour, but then drove; they now let go the fheet-anchor, and wore away a whole cable, and the fhip rode for about two hours longer, when the drove again.

"Whilst they were in this fituation, the captain fent for Mr. Henry Meriton, the chief officer who furvives, and asked his opinion as to the probability of faving their lives; to which he replied with equal calmness and candour, that he apprehended there was very little hope, as they were then driving faft on the fhore, and might expect every moment to strike; the boats were then mentioned, but it was agreed that at that time they could be of no ufe, yet in cafe an opportunity fhould prefent itself of making them ferviceable, it was proposed that the officers fhould be confidentially requefted to referve the long-boat for the ladies and themselves; and this precaution was immediately taken.

"About two in the morning of Friday the 6th, the fhip ftill driv ing, and approaching very faft to the fhore, the fame officer again went into the cuddy, where the captain then was, and another converfation took place, Captain Pierce expreffing extreme anxiety for the prefervation of his beloved daughters, and earnestly afking the officer if he could devife any means of faving them; and on his anfwering with great concern that he feared it would be impoffible, but that their only chance would be to wait for the morning, the captain lifted up his hands in filent and diftrefsful ejaculation.

At this dreadful moment the

fhip ftruck with fuch violence as to dafh the heads of thofe who were ftanding in the cuddy against the deck above them; and the fatal blow was accompanied by a fhriek of horror, which burft at one instant from every quarter of the fhip.

"The feamen, many of whom had been remarkably inattentive and remifs in their duty during great part of the storm, and had actually fkulked in their hammocks, and left the exertions of the pump, and the other labours attending their fituation, to the officers of the fhip,, and the foldiers, (who had been uncommonly active and affiduous during the whole tremendous conflict) rouzed by the deftructive blow to a fenfe of their danger, now poured upon the deck, to which no endeavours of their officers could keep them whilft their affiftance might have been useful, and in frantic exclamations demanded of heaven and their fellow-fufferers, that fuccour, which their timely efforts might poffibly have fucceeded in procuring; but it was now too late, the fhip continued to beat on the rocks, and foon bulged, and fell with her broadfide towards the shore: When the fhip ftruck, a number of the men climbed up the enfign-ftaff, under an apprehenfion of her going to pieces immediately.

"Mr. Meriton, the officer whom we have already mentioned, at this crifis of horror, offered to these unhappy beings the best advice which could poffibly be given to them; he recommended their coming all to that fide of the fhip which lay lowest on the rocks, and fingly to take the opportunities which might then offer of efcaping to the shore. And having thus provided to the utmost of his power for the fafety of the

defponding

defponding crew, he returned to the round-house, where by this time all the paffengers, and most of the officers, were affembled, the latter employed in offering confolation to the unfortunate ladies, and with unparalelled magnanimity fuffering their compaffion for the fair and amiable companions of their miffortunes to get the better of the fenfe of their own danger, and the dread of almost inevitable annihilation. At this moment, what must be the feelings of a father-of fuch a father as Captain Pierce!

"In this charitable work of offering comfort to the fair fufferers, Mr. Meriton now joined, by affurances of his opinion, that the fhip would hold together till the morning, when they would all be fafe: and Captain Pierce obferving one of the young gentlemen loud in his expreffions of terror, and hearing him frequently exclaim that the fhip was going to pieces, he chearfully bid him hold his peace; obferving to him, that though the fhip fhould go to pieces, he would not, but would be fafe enough.

"It will now be neceffary to defcribe the fituation of the place which proved fatal to fo many valuable and refpectable perfons, as without fuch a defcription it will be difficult to convey a proper idea of the melancholy, the deplorable scene.

"The fhip ftruck on the rocks at or near Seacombe, on the island of Purbeck, between Peverel Point, and St. Alban's-head, at a part of the fhore where the cliff is of vaft height, and rifes almoft perpendi

cular from its base.

"But at this particular spot the cliff is excavated at the foot, and presents a cavern of ten or twelve

yards in depth, and of breadth equal to the length of a large fhip, the fides of the cavern fo nearly upright as to be extremely difficult of accefs, the roof formed of the ftupendous cliff, and the bottom of it ftrewed with fharp and uneven rocks, which feem to have been rent from above by fome convulfion of nature.

"It was at the mouth of this cavern that the unfortunate wreck lay stretched almost from fide to fide of it, and offering her broadfide to the horrid chafm.

"But at the time the ship struck, it was too dark to discover the extent of their danger, and the extreme horror of their fituation; even Mr. Meriton himself conceived a hope that the might keep together till day-light, and endeavoured to chear his drooping friends, and in particular the unhappy ladies, with this comfortable expectation, as an anfwer to the captain's enquiries, how they went on, or what he thought of their fituation?

"In addition to the company already in the round-house, they had admitted three black women, and two foldiers wives, who with the husband of one of them had been permitted to come in, though the feamen who had tumultuously demanded entrance, to get the lights, had been oppofed, and kept out by Mr. Rogers, the third mate, and Mr. Brimer, the fifth, fo that the numbers there were now increased to near fifty; Captain Pierce fitting on a chair, cot, or fome other moveable, with a daughter on each fide of him, each of whom he alternately preffed to his affectionate bofom; the reft of the melancholy af fembly were feated on the deck, which was frewed with musical in[P] 2 ftruments,

ftruments, and the wreck of furniture, trunks, boxes, and packages.

And here alfo Mr. Meriton, having previously cut feveral wax candles into pieces, and stuck them up in various parts of the roundhoufe, and lighted up all the glafs lanthorns he could find, took his feat, intending to wait the happy dawn, that might present to him the means of effecting his own efcape, and afford him an opportunity of giving affiftance to the partners of his danger; but obferving that the poor ladies appeared parched and exhaufted, he fetched a basket of oranges from fome part of the roundhoufe, and prevailed on fome of them to refresh themfelves by fucking a little of the juice. At this time they were all tolerably compofed, except Mifs Manfel, who was in hysteric fits on the floor deck of the roundhoufe.

"But on his return to the company, he perceived a confiderable alteration in the appearance of the fhip, the fides were vifibly giving way, the deck feemed to be lifting, and he discovered other ftrong fymptoms that he could not hold together much longer, he therefore attempted to go forward to look out, but immediately faw that the fhip was separated in the middle, and that the fore part had changed its pofition, and lay rather farther out towards the fea; and in this emergency, when the next moment might be charged with his fate, he determined to feize the prefent, and to follow the example of the crew, and the foldiers, who were now quitting the ship in numbers, and making their way to a fhore, of which they knew not yet the horrors.

"Among other measures adopted to favour thefe attempts, the enfign

ftaff had been unfhipped, and attempted to be laid from the fhip's fide to fome of the rocks, but without fuccefs, for it fnapped to pieces before it reached them; however, by the light of a lanthorn, which a feaman, of the name of Burmaster, handed through the fky-light of the round-houfe to the deck, Mr. Meriton difcovered a spar, which appeared to be laid from the fhip's fide to the rocks, and on this fpar he determined to attempt his efcape.

"He accordingly laid himfelf down on it, and thruft himfelf forward, but he foon found that the fpar had no communication with the rock; he reached the end of it, and then flipped off, receiving a very violent bruife in his fall; and before he could recover his legs, he was wathed off by the furge, in which he supported himself by fwimming, till the returning wave dashed him against the back part of the cavern, where he laid hold of a small projecting piece of the rock, but was fo benumbed, that he was on the point of quitting it, when a feaman who had already gained a footing, extended his hand, and affifted him till he could fecure himself on a little fhelf of the rock, from which he clambered ftill higher, till he was out of the reach of the surf.

"Mr. Rogers, the third mate, remained with the captain, and the unfortunate ladies, and their companions, near twenty minutes after Mr. Meriton had quitted the fhip: Soon after the latter left the roundhoufe, the captain asked what was become of him? and Mr. Rogers replied that he was gone on the deck, to fee what could be done.After this a heavy fea breaking over the ship, the ladies exclaimed,

"Oh poor Meriton; he is drowned, had he stayed with us, he would have been fafe;" and they all, and particulary Mifs Mary Peirce, expreffed great concern at the apprehenfion of his lofs.-On this occafion Mr. Rogers offered to go and call in Mr. Meriton; but this was oppofed by the ladies, from an apprehenfion that he might share the fame fate.

"At this time the fea was breaking in at the fore part of the ship, and reached as far as the main-mast, and Captain Pierce gave Mr Rogers a nod, and they took a lamp, and went together into the fterngallery, and after viewing the rocks for fome time, Captain Pierce asked Mr. Rogers if he thought there was any poffibility of faving the girls; to which he replied, he feared there was not, for they could only difcover the black face of the perpendi cular rock, and not the cavern which afforded shelter to those who efcaped; they then returned to the round-houfe, and Mr. Rogers hung up the lamp, and Captain Pierce, with his great coat on, fat down between his two daughters, and struggled to fupprefs the parental tear which then burst into his eye.

"The fea continuing to break in very faft, Mr. McManus, a midshipman, and Mr. Schutz, a paffenger, afked Mr. Rogers, what they could do to efcape; who replied, "Follow me," and they then all went into the ftern-gallery, and from thence by the weather upper quarter gallery upon the poop, and whilft they were there a very heavy fea fell on board, and the round houfe gave way, and he heard the ladies fhriek at intervals, as if the water had reached them, the noise

of the fea at other times drowning their voices.

"Mr. Brimer had followed Mr. Rogers to the poop, where they had remained together about five minutes, when on the coming on of the laft-mentioned fea, they jointly feized a hen-coop, and the fame wave which he apprehended proved fatal to fome of those who remained below, happily carried him and his companion to the rock, on which they were dashed with such violence as to be miferably bruised and hurt.

"On this rock were twenty-feven men, but it was low water, and as they were convinced that upon the flowing of the tide they must all be washed off, many of them attempted to get to the back or fides of the cavern, out of the reach of the returning fea; in this attempt fcarce more than fix, befides himfelf and Mr. Brimer, fucceeded; of the remainder fome fhared the fate which they had apprehended, and the others perished in their efforts to get into the cavern.

"Mr. Rogers and Mr. Brimer both however reached the cavern, and fcrambled up the rock, on narrow shelves of which they fixed themfelves: Mr. Rogers got fo near to his friend Mr. Meriton as to exchange congratulations with him; but he was prevented from joining him by at least twenty men who were between them, neither of whom could move without immediate peril of his life.-At the time Mr. Rogers reached this ftation of poffible fafety his ftrength was fo nearly exhaufted, that had the ftruggle continued a few minutes longer he must have been inevi tably loft.

[P] 3

"They now found that a very confiderable number of the crew, feamen, foldiers, and fome petty officers, were in the fame fituation with themselves, though many who had reached the rocks below, had perished in attempting to afcend; what that fituation was they were ftill to learn; at prefent they had efcaped immediate death, but they were yet to encounter cold, nakedness, wind, rain, and the perpetual beating of the spray of the fea, for a difficult, precarious, and doubtful chance of escape.

"They could yet difcern fome part of the fhip, and folaced themfelves, in their dreary ftations, with the hope of its remaining entire till day-break, for, in the midft of their own misfortunes, the fufferings of the females affected them with the moft acute anguish, and every fea that broke brought with it terror, for the fate of those amiable and helpless beings.

But, alas! their apprehenfions were too foon realized. In a very few minutes after Mr. Rogers had gained the rock, an univerfal fhriek, which ftill vibrates in their ears, and in which the voice of female diftrefs was lamentably distinguishable, announced the dreadful catafrophe; in a few moments all was hushed, except the warring winds and beating waves: the wreck was buried in the remorseless deep, and not an atom of her was ever after discoverable.

Thus perifhed the Halfewell, and with her worth, honour, fkill, beauty, amiability, and bright accomplishments.

Many of thofe who had gained the precarious ftations which we have described, worn out with fa

tigue, weakened by bruifes, battered by the tempeft, and benumbed with the cold, quitted their holdfafts, and tumbling headlong either on the rocks below, or in the furf, perished beneath the feet of their wretched affociates, and by their dying groans, and gulping excla mations for pity, awakened terrific apprehenfions in the furvivors, of their own approaching fate.

"At length, after the bitterest three hours which mifery ever lengthened into ages, the day broke on them, but instead of bringing with it the relief with which they had flattered themselves, ferved to difcover all the horrors of their fituation; they now found that had the country been alarmed by the guns of diftrefs which they had continued to fire for many hours before the fhip ftruck, but which from the vio lence of the ftorm were unheard, they could neither be obferved by the people from above, as they were completely ingulphed in the cavern, and over-hung by the cliff, nor did any part of the wreck remain to point out their probable place of refuge; below, no boat could live to search them out; and had it been poffible to have acquainted those who would wish to affift them, with their exact fituation, no ropes could be conveyed into the cavity to facilitate their escape.

"The only prospect which offered, was to creep along the fide of the cavern, to its outward extremity, and on a ledge fcarcely as broad as a man's hand to turn the corner, and endeavour to clamber up the almoft perpendicular precipice, whofe fummit was near two hundred feet from the bafe.

"And in this defperate effort did fome