Seafaring Sunday: The Gentleman's Fate

December 10, 1718: Despite a written plea to the colonial Governor which read in part:

I have presumed, on the Confidence of your eminent Goodness, to throw my self, after this manner, at your Feet, to implore you’ll graciously be pleased to look upon me with tender Bowels of Pity and Compassion; and believe me to be the most miserable Man this Day breathing: That the Tears proceeding from my most sorrowful Soul may soften your Heart, and encline you to consider my dismal State …

The so called gentleman pirate Stede Bonnet was hanged near the docks in Charleston, South Carolina.

Header: contemporary engraving of Bonnet's hanging; note the nosegay, carried as a sign of repentance