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Horrors of Slavery|just as tbs visiting captain had at* I tempted some observation in excuse or j palliation of their conduct, our atten-Capt. Morrell’s visit to a slave Ship.—-— j- , j lion was arrested by another object.On a southern voyage o . a mg am is-. ^ the captives, a well made, goodcoverr, Capt. Benjamin * orre ,jr. vki ei a : J00king man, of about twenty-five•fare sbip off the coast o rica. e ex- arg aije^ [jafj contrjved, manacled tract the account, as a f»ir specimen of i1** | gg he was, to scale the bulkhead, fromnarrative, j‘u»t published. ! the top of which, being unable to use0.7filh^?a^ hishaki,,befellintothefemales’apart-“ I haveer, that when I entered the Buy of men^ where his head struck a ringboltBenguela,there were no less than four! ~ , , i i with such force as to fracture his scull.slave dealers from Brav.,1 w..l.ne °,jtwaslhe h(,sband of ,he , ofcomulete their cargoes. One of these , , / comp a u,u , ■ « . V | ! the two women who had just breathedreceptacles of m man misery la, at P„, f,» Jmenl, ha lav. sk- r, ftfiling nf thpi(*leir last- Fora few moments he lavr^nic'tS I vTas (tZ^;^less from the. effects ofjhe blow;j, i t i frrnyn- 'f; but soon came to himself sufficiently toannoved bv the shrieks and groans ot k' . • *,.c ,i,„ „ vir understand what was said to him. Init« haoless inmates, the wretcnea \ic-, , ,1 1 - 1 the next moment he recognised thehapletirnsof unfeeling avarice, that I rcsolv-, .... r , . .r , . cu, .u i a ^ dead body of his wife, which he fran-ed to visit the vessel, and make an ol- . J , ; , ,ticall) strove to clasp in his manacledfer of such medical aid as might have ,. ,, • f arms; and, with a yell of despair, en-a tendency to alleviate the anguis i of . ’ . ’ . J . .K . .deavored to awaken her with his ca-the sufferers. YY'ith this determina-i . , . _ , , ...I I 1 1 * „„irrio/i resses trom the sleep of death, whiletion. I ordered a boat to be manned,! ,...........,. .. .I* - ’ .and boarded the brig without ceremonv.the wound in his head was pouring forth a torrent of blood on the inanimate'Evas received by the officers m j object of his piteous lamentations.deck with a certain degree of courtesy, |The captain of the brig now spoke, and ordered one of the officers to tearnot unmirigled with surprise; which, when I made known the object of my! the poor fellow from the corpse of hisvisit, assumed an expression of deri- i wife, and to stow him on the other sideFirmly adhering toi°f the deck. He raised his mute im-sion or contempt. w .my original purpose, however, 1 insist- Paring eye tome, in which I read aed upon seeing, and, if necessary, ad- peedy termination of his miseries, and ministering to those sufferers whose au- fin ardent desire to expire on the bosomThe officer advanced todible complaints h id so powerfully |°f his wifeThe captain seize him; but this was too much forexcited my sympathy.gave orders that my demand should be! me to witness. I sprang before theomplied fwith, and, gracious Heaven! Mjing man, d»ew my dirk, and orderedcwhat a horrible spectacle was present-1 the officer to desist, on the peril of instant death.ed to my view !The slaves, perfectly naked, wereUHold !” I exclaimed, you shall notstowed in rows, fore and aft, in a sitting | molest him. Back! back! onyour life! or crouching posture; and most of the; No man shall touch him unless he cutmen hadtheir faces between their j his way through my body. You havebutchered the wife of his bosom: he isknees, either indulging in moody silence, or mournfully chanting, in a low now dying from the effectsof yoursav-voice, some plaintive song of their j age barbarity; and they snail not be native villages. The feelings of the i separated until his spirit is reunited tofemales were of course more clamo-j hers, in that blessed world where fiendsrously expressed, in spite of all their| of hell like you can never come, tyrants’ exertions to keep them quietIn passing along the deck between these two ranges of dcsparing human beings, 1 encountered such mute imploring glances, such appealing looks of rn sery, such piteous supplicating expressions of countenance, such torrents of teais, that looked like pearls on ebony, as completely and totally unmanned me. My own tears fell like rain, and the poor negroes gazed on the strange phenomenon ot a whiteBack! or vour blood shall mingle withOthe negro’s!”The officer recoiled a few paces, while the others stood gazing at me and each other with mute amazement.1 stood fixed in my purpose, however; and not one of the conscience-struck,wretches.igu i I t-appa lied, co ward ly ould muster up sufficient courage to oppose mv single arm. The dying captive’s struggle was short. In a fewminutes more he breathed his last, on man s {sympathy with wonder, doubt, j coj(^ inanimate lips of her he lovedEven the femalesand admiration, had not been allowed a rag to cover their nakedness.After having taken a cursory view cf the heart-sickening scene, my attention was attracted to the after range of pens on the starboard side, which contained about one half the femalesmore than he feared death. 1 then returned my dirk to its sheath, andagain addressed the embarrassed of-Wticer.UStep forward, inhuman monsters!and contemplate the effects of vour1 *then on deck, llcre, as on the opposite side of the deck, the two sexes were separated by a partition or bulk-hc id eight feet in height; near which were two women, evidently writhing in the agonies of death. I’ailly from the officers, and partly from their fellow sufferers, 1 gathered the shameful fact that these dying wretches laid been reduced to their present situation by repeated applications ol the lash, ns a punishment for their piteous cries and heart-rending waitings. This worse than brutality had elicited those shrieks and groans which first arrestedomv attention on board the Antartic.—cruel barbarity—your triple murder. Eook there! on the remains of thesethree poor victims of your avarice andcruelty! Think, too, of their hapless infants; which, if not happily already gone to meet their parents in a better world, are fated never to enjoy a parent's tenderness in this. How willyou answer for crimes like these before the God of Justice? I do notmarvel at your cowardice, for it is the inseparable concomitant of guilt likevours. 1 do not wonder that von turnIfThey were wives am! mothers; their infants had been torn from their breastspale at my just rebuke, and tremble there like culprits at the gangway— But how much more will you trembleand throw.i upon the ground, either to perish with hunger among the grass, orto become the prey of beasts, or the reptiles—or, possibly, to be preserved-and nourished by strangers. In the phrenzied paroxisms of maternal anguish, they had called for their infants for their husbands—for their parents for their brothers,sisters and friends;when you are arraigned before the bar of Divine Justice, and hear the voice which brought the universe into existence, pronounce the awful sentence— Inasmuch as you have not shown mercy to one of the least of these, ye have not done it unto me.”and forthi- natural, involuntary ebullition of feeling, their bodies had beencruelly lacerated with stripes, untilnature sank exhausted, no more to re-Thcir breasts were distendedYVith these tvgrds I advanced to the gangway, and was about to depart. whlt; n the captain of the brig expressed a hope that I would not depart in anger. but that 1 would walk below and join them in a glass of wine. 1 promptly declined the proffered courtesy, assuring them that it gave me unpleasantfeelings to breathe the same air with ivrwith the undrawn nutriment for the lack of which their hcloloss babesmen engaged in this abominable traffic; but were I to drink with them, I shouldhelplessperh.ap- were perishing—it was oozing in streams from their nipples, mingled ! with their o« n blood.feci guilty of an act of wanton impiety that had stained the untarnished lustreOn learning these facts, indignation enabled me to suppress those softer feeling? w hich were before nearly ch k-mg me ; while the hardened barbarians around me wore sardonic smiles upon their faces. The captain- of tw o vessels were present, and several officers.For the moment. 1 impiously wished to be armed w ith the lightning of Heaven,to punish the guilty, and terminate the suffering? of their victims or. the spot. A- this was not practicable, however, Igave vent to im feelings in a torrent of* Vinvective, pouring upon them voile of vituperation. 1 cannot recollect w hat l-aid;but for sometime 1 gave themof the flag I sailed under.They retorted, with a most provoking assurance that great numbers of Ymerienn vcs-ols were at this moment engaged in the same traffic; vesselsthey knew were owned by citizens of 9the I nited States, commanded by A-, and manned bvmencan captains,American and F.ngli-h seamen.Female Industry.—Mr«. Holt, the wife ol' the proprietor of a new u#plendid, spaciousand elegant Hotel, which has ju«t been o-oened in the t'itv of New York, had withinthe lalt;t «iy rears in addition to the cares of a Urge establishment* made with her own hands, 1500 towels 400 pairs ot sheets. I11*) pairs of pillow oases 250 bed ticks, and 300pat hwork bed quilts of ample diiaien^iom. With such a wife, a man cannot but prosper.-____t_____I
Newspaper Details
Terre Haute Wabash Courier
Terre Haute, Indiana, US
Thu, Feb 07, 1833
Page 4
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
USA 10 Jul 2020
Other Publications Near Terre Haute, Indiana
Western Register and Terre Haute Advertiser
Terre Haute Wabash Courier
Terre Haute Tribune Star
Terre Haute Tribune
Terre Haute Star
