WILLIAM DAMPIER.
[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."] SIR,—The career of the great circumnavigator, William Dampier, "the Prince of old Navigators," as called by the late Captain Basil Hall, and one of the greatest of our Somerset worthies, having become the subject of investiga- tion, I think I can throw a little light on his closing days. It will be satisfactory, I feel assured, to his able and sympathetic biographer,. Mr. Clark Russell, and your correspondents, Miss Dampier and Mr. Hooker, to learn that the illustrious "sea father" did not end his days, as has been conjectured, amid_ the obscurity of provincial and rural surroundings ; and, happily, it can be shown by indisputable evidence that Dam- pier, at the time of his death, was not overtaken by poverty, and, although he was a widower and without children, he was not left quite alone in the world. There is something almost pathetic in the phraseology of his bequest to his cousin, Grace Mercer, to whom he leaves all his goods and household stuff; and nine-tenths of his property ! To his brother George, of Porton, Bridport, he leaves one-tenth of his property. Dampier. died in March, 1715, in the parish of St. Stephen, Coleman Street, London, and his will is dated November 29th, 1714, just about four months previous to his death. Perhaps Mr. Clements Markham, whose researches in this quarter have proved so valuable, may be induced to extend his inquiries. Having ascertained where Dampier died, and that he made a will,,proved at Doctors' Commons, he may yet be able to tell us where he was buried,—somewhere in the Metropolis, I have- no doubt. It will cheer the heart of many an English. sailor, and those who have followed Dampier in his tempest-tossecl life, to learn that between him and Grace Mercer there must have existed a warm affection. She was the chief recipient of his bounty, his executrix, and the custodian, no doubt, of his unpublished notes and travels. May we not also infer that in his last illness Cousin Grace was often at his bedside, minis- tering to his wants, and surrounding him with some ot those rare home comforts which it had not been his lot to enjoy since he left the home of his boyhood P—I am, Sir, &c., Haines Hill, Taunton, January 21st.
ARTHUR KINGLIKE_
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