A rare old pamphlet on the State of Jamaica, published early in the last century, contains a curious account of the arrival in that island, in 1687, of Christopher, Duke of Albemarle, on his appointment to the Governorship. He was the only son and heir of John Monk, who had helped to restore Charles II., and who had been rewarded with a dukedom, the Garter, and a princely fortune, which his successor completely dissipated, and reduced himself to beggary. To rid himself of his importunities, King James II. gave him the above-mentioned position in Jamaica, where he died, childless, soon after his arrival, and his honours became extinct. He seems, however, to have lived long enough to collect a considerable sum of money for his creditors. He entered into partnership with a Sir William Phipps, who, having discovered the wreck of a Spanish plate-ship, which had gone down in 1559, provided skilful divers to search for the sunken treasure, and the partners are reported to have recovered twenty-six tons of silver. When Albemarle arrived at Kingston, he behaved in a fashion as arbitrary as it was whimsical. He immediately called an assembly, which he dissolved as promptly, because one of the members, in a debate, repeated the adage "_Salus Populi suprema lex_." His Grace took this member into custody, and caused him to be fined 600 crowns for his offence. Evidently James II. had entertained some hope of converting the island of Jamaica to the Roman Catholic faith, for with Albemarle he sent out a missionary,--Father Thomas Churchill, but the Duke's death and the Revolution of 1688 upset the good Father's projects, and, after visiting Cuba, he returned to England. The Duchess, who accompanied her husband, was a very remarkable woman, and an exceedingly handsome one. The speaker of the assembly, in his first address, expatiated upon her presence in the following extraordinary strain of eloquence: "It is an honour," said he, "which the opulent Kingdoms of Mexico or Peru could never arrive at, to be visited by an English Duchess, and even Columbus' ghost would be appeased, could he but know that his own beloved soil was hallowed by such footsteps." In a very old private letter, included among the exhibits, was a singular account of the subsequent career of this Duchess. It seems that on the death of the Duke, she possessed herself of all the treasures he had rescued from the Spanish plate-ship, and refusing to part with a shilling, even to pay his legitimate debts, prepared to embark for England. But the creditors seized her person in the King's house, in Spanish Town, and attempted to carry her off. She contrived, however, to escape, and communicated her distress to the House of Assembly, who thereupon appointed a formidable committee of their ablest members to guard her day and night. After some delay, she was safely embarked for England, on one of the King's ships, and arrived in this country with all her fortune, on board the "Assistance"