of praise; for tenderness and compassion ought to be the peculiar
ornament of every female breast; and it were to be wished that every
parent would betimes, like this good lady, instil into their children a
tender sense of humanity, and feeling for another's woes, they would by
this means teach them the enjoyment of the most godlike and pleasing of
all other pleasures, that of relieving the distressed; and would
extinguish that sordid selfish spirit, which is the blot of humanity.
The good lady not content with what she had already done, ushered him
into the room, where her husband, an aged gentleman, was writing; to whom
she related Mr. Cook's misfortunes in as moving a manner as she was able;
the old gentleman laid aside his spectacles, and asked him several
questions, then dispatched his servant into the town, who soon returned
with two Newfoundland captains, one of whom happened to be Captain Drake,
to whom our hero had a letter of recommendation given him by one of the
Bristol captains; and the other Captain Morris, whose business having
called him to Bristol, he had there been already informed by the captains
of the circumstances of Mr. Cook's misfortunes; and he repeating the same
now to the mayor, Captain Morris confirmed this relation, told them how
he had been treated at Bristol, and made him a present of a guinea and a
greatcoat, it being then very rainy weather; Captain Drake likewise gave
him a guinea, for both these gentlemen perfectly well knew Mr. Cook's
father and mother; the mayor likewise made him a present, and entertained
him very hospitably in his house.
In the same character he visited Sir Haswell Tent, and several other
gentlemen, raising considerable contributions.
This activity and ingenuity of their new king was highly agreeable to the
community of the mendicants, and his applauses resounded at all their
meetings; but, as fortune delights to change the scene, and of a sudden
to depress those she had most favoured, we come now to relate the
misfortunes of our hero, though we know not whether we should call them
by that name or not, as they gave him a large field of action, and
greater opportunities of exercising the more manly virtues--courage and
intrepidity in dangers.
Going one day to pay a visit to Mr. Robert Incledon, at Barnstaple in
Devon, (in an ill hour which his knowledge could not foresee,) knocking
at the door softly, it was, opened to him by the clerk, with the common
salutation of How do you do, Mr. Carew? where have you been? He readily
replied, that he was making a visit to Squire Bassar, and in his return
had called to pay his respects to Mr. Incledon.
The clerk very civilly asked him to walk in; but no sooner had he entered
than the door was shut upon him by Justice Leithbridge, a very bitter
enemy to the whole community of mendicants, who concealed himself behind
it, and Mr. Carew was made a prisoner;--so sudden are the vicissitudes of
life; and misfortunes spring as it were out of the earth.
Thus suddenly and unexpectedly fell the mighty Caesar, the master of the
world; and just so affrighted Priam looked when the shade of Hector drew
his curtains, and told him that his Troy was taken.
The reader will, undoubtedly, be at a loss to comprehend why he was thus
seized upon, contrary to the laws of hospitality; it is therefore our
business to inform him, that he had, some time before this, in the shape
of a poor lame cripple, frightened either the justice or his horse on
Hilton bridge; but which of the two it was, cannot be affirmed with any
certainty. However, the justice vowed a dire revenge, and now exulted
greatly at having got him in his power; fame had no sooner sounded with
her hundred prattling tongues that our hero was in captivity, but the
justice's house was crowded with intercessors for him:--however, Justice
Leithbridge was deaf to all, and even to the entreaties of
beauty,--several ladies being likewise advocates for him; whether it was
that the justice was past that age when love shoots his darts with most
success, or whether his heart was always made of that unmalleable stuff
which is quite unassailable by love, or by his cousin-german, pity, we
cannot well determine.
Amongst the rest who came to see him, were some captains of collier
vessels, whom the justice espying, very probably taking some disgust at
their countenances, demanded who they were, and immediately discharging
the guard which had been before placed over Mr. Carew, charged the
captains with the care of him, though they affirmed their vessels were to
sail the next tide; however the justice paying as little regard to their
allegations as he had done to their petitions for Mr. Carew, they found
they had no other hope but from the good-natured dame--Patience; a good
woman, who is always ready to render our misfortunes less, and was, in
all his adventures, a great friend to our hero.
At length a warrant was made out for conveying him to Exeter, and lodging
him in one of the securest places in that city; but, as it was now too
late to set forward on their journey that night, they were ordered to a
public house at Barnstaple; and the justice remembering the old proverb,
"fast bind, fast find," would fain have locked the door of the room where
Mr. Carew was, and taken the key with him; but the honest landlord
offering to become security for his appearance in the morning, the
justice was at last persuaded to be content without a jailor.
Mr. Carew, notwithstanding his situation, was not cast down, but bravely
opposed his ill fortune with his usual courage, and passed the night with
great cheerfulness in the company of the collier captains, who were his
guard.
The next day Mr. Carew was conducted to Exeter, without any thing
remarkable happening on the road; here, to his great annoyance, he was
securely lodged for upwards of two months, before he was brought to trial
at the quarter sessions, held at the castle, when Justice Bevis was
chairman; but that awful appearance,
The judges all met--a terrible show,
did not strike any terror into his breast; though loaded with chains, he
preserved his usual firmness of mind, and saluted the court with a noble
assurance. Being asked by the chairman what parts of the world he had
been in? he answered Denmark, Sweden, Muscovy, France, Spain, Portugal,
Newfoundland, Ireland, Wales, and some parts of Scotland. The chairman
then told him he must proceed to a hotter country:--he inquired into what
climate, and being told Merryland, he with great composure made a
critical observation on the pronunciation of that word, implying, that he
apprehended it ought to be pronounced Maryland, and added, it would save
him five pounds for his passage, as he was very desirous of seeing that
country: but, notwithstanding, he with great resolution desired to know
by what law they acted, as he was not accused of any crime; however,
sentence of banishment was passed upon him for seven years; but his fate
was not singular, for he had the comfort of having fellow companions
enough in his unmerited sufferings, as, out of thirty-five prisoners,
thirty-two were ordered into the like banishment.
Whether at that period of time mankind were more profligate than usual,
or whether there was a more than ordinary demand for men in his majesty's
colonies, cannot by us be determined. Mr. Carew was not, as is most
commonly the case, deserted by his friends in adversity, for he was
visited during the time of his imprisonment by many gentlemen, who were
exceedingly liberal to him; and no sooner did the news of his captivity
reach the ears of his subjects, than they flocked to him from all parts,
administered to his necessities in prison, and daily visited him till his
departure.
This, and the thoughts of the many new scenes and adventures which he was
likely to encounter, whereby he might have an opportunity of making his
name as famous in America as it was already in Europe, often filled his
mind with too-pleasing reflections to regret his fate, though he could
have liked to have performed the voyage under more agreeable
circumstances; whenever the thought of being cruelly separated from his
beloved wife and daughters glanced on his mind, the husband and father
unmanned the hero, and melted him into tenderness and fear; the
reflection too of the damage his subjects might sustain by his absence,
and the disorder the whole community would be put in by it, filled him
with many disquietudes.
Thus, between pleasing ideas and heartfelt pangs, did he pass his time
till the day arrived that he was to be conducted on board the Julian,
Captain Froade, commander. But how, gentle reader, shall I describe the
ceremony of parting--the last farewell of that dreadful day!
Leaving the reader, therefore, to suppose all these fine things, behold
the sails already spread, and the vessel cutting the waves; but, as if
fate had opposed itself to the banishment of our hero, the winds soon
proved contrary, and they were obliged to stay more than a fortnight in
Falmouth harbour for a fair wind, and from thence, in eleven weeks, they
arrived safely at Maryland, after a disagreeable voyage.
The first place they touched at was Hampton, between Cape Charles and
Cape Henry, where the captain went on shore and got a pilot; and after
about two days stay there, the pilot brought the vessel down Mile's
River, and cast anchor in Talbot county, when the captain ordered a gun
to be fired as a signal for the planters to come down, and then went
ashore. He soon after sent on board a hogshead of rum, and ordered all
the men prisoners to be close shaved against the next morning, and the
women to have their best head-dresses put on, which occasioned no little
hurry on board; for, between the trimming of beards, and putting on of
caps, all hands were fully employed.
Early in the morning the captain ordered public notice to be given of the
day of sale; and the prisoners, who were pretty near a hundred, were all
ordered upon deck, where a large bowl of punch was made, and the planters
flocked on board; their first inquiry was for letters from old England,
what passage he had, how their friends did, and the like.
The captain informed them of the war being declared against Spain, that
it was expected it would soon be declared against France; and that he had
been eleven weeks and four days in his passage.
Their next inquiry was, if the captain had brought them good store of
joiners, carpenters, blacksmiths, weavers, and tailors; upon which the
captain called out one Griffy, a tailor, who had lived at Chumleigh, in
the county of Devon, and was obliged to take a voyage to Maryland, for
making too free with his neighbour's sheep. Two planters, who were
parson Nicholas and Mr. Rolls, asked him if he was sound wind and limb?
and told him it would be worse for him if he told them an untruth; and at
last purchased him from the captain. The poor tailor cried and bellowed
like a bell-wether, cursing his wife who had betrayed him. Mr. Carew,
like a brave man, to whom every soil is his own country, ashamed of his
cowardice, gave the tailor to the devil; and, as he knew he could not do
without them, sent his shears, thimble, and needle, to bear him company.
Wherefore all these wailings? said our hero: have we not a fine country
before us? pointing to the shore. And indeed in this he was very right,
for Maryland not only affords every thing which preserves and confirms
health, but also all things that are charming. The beauty of the
prospect, the fragrancy of the fields and gardens, the brightness of the
sky, and the serenity of the air, affect the ravished senses; the country
being a large plain, and hills in it so easy of ascent, and of such a
moderate height, that they seem rather an artificial ornament to it, than
one of the accidents of nature. The abundance of rivers and brooks is no
little help to the almost incredible fertility of the soil.
But to return.--When all the best tradesmen were bought up, a planter
came to Mr. Carew, and asked him what trade he was of. Mr. Carew, to
satisfy him of his usefulness, told him he was a rat-catcher, a
mendicant, and a dog merchant.--What the devil trades are these? inquired
the planter in astonishment; for I have never before heard of them: upon
which the captain thinking he should lose the sale of him, takes the
planter aside, and tells him he did but jest, being a man of humour, for
that he was a great scholar, and was only sent over on account of having
disobliged some gentlemen; that he had no indenture with him, but he
should have him for seven years, and that he would make an excellent
school-master; however, he did not buy him.
The next day the captain asked him to go on shore with him to see the
country, but with a view of getting a purchaser for him among the
planters. As they were walking, several people came up to Mr. Carew, and
asked him what countryman he was, &c. At length they went to a tavern,
where one Mr. David Huxter, who was formerly of Lyme in Dorset, and Mr.
Hambleton, a Scotchman, seemed to have an inclination to buy him between
them; soon after came in one Mr. Ashcraft, who put in for him too, and
the bowl of punch went merrily round. In the midst of their mirth, Mr.
Carew, who had given no consent to the bargain they were making for him,
thought it no breach of honour or good manners to seize an opportunity of
slipping away without taking leave of them; and taking away with him
about a pint of brandy and some biscuit cakes, which by good luck he
chanced to put his hand on, he immediately betook himself to the woods as
the only place of security for him.
Mr. Carew, having found he had eluded their search, congratulated himself
on his happy escape and deliverance; for he now made no doubt of getting
to old England again, notwithstanding the difficulties which lay in his
way, as he knew his courage was equal to every danger; but we are too
often apt, as the proverb says, "to reckon without our host," and are
sometimes near danger when we think ourselves most secure: and so it
happened to our hero at this time; for, amidst his joyful reflections, he
did not know that none were allowed to travel there, unless when known,
without proper passes, of which he was not provided; and there is
moreover a reward of five pounds for any one who apprehends a runaway.
It therefore happened, that one morning early, passing through a narrow
path, he was met by four timbermen, going to work; he would fain have
escaped their observation, but they soon hailed him, and demanded where
he was going, and where his pass was? These were questions which he
would willingly have been excused from answering; however, as his wit was
always ready, he immediately told them he belonged to the Hector
privateer, (which he knew then lay upon the coast,) and that he was going
on some business for the captain to Charles' county:--but, as he could
produce no pass, this would not satisfy them, so they seized upon him,
and conducted him to one Colonel Brown's, a justice of the peace in Anne
Arundel county.
But here, most gentle reader, that thou mayest not form a wrong idea of
this justice, and, as is too often the case, judge of what thou hast not
seen, from what thou hast seen, it will be necessary to inform thee, that
he was not such a one as Hudibras describes:
An old dull sot, who told the clock,
For many years at Bridewell dock.
Neither was he such a one as that excellent artist, Mr. Hogarth, has
depicted in his picture of a Modern Midnight Conversation;--nor such a
one as the author of Joseph Andrews has, above all authors, so inimitably
drawn to the life; nor yet was he such a one as thou hast often seen at a
quarter sessions, with a large wig, a heavy unmeaning countenance, and a
sour aspect, who gravely nods over a cause, and then passes a decision on
what he does not understand; and no wonder, when he, perhaps, never saw,
much less read the laws of his country; but of Justice Brown, I can
assure the reader, he could not only read, but upon occasion write a
mittimus, without the assistance of his clerk; he was thoroughly
acquainted with the general duties of his office, and the particular laws
of Maryland; his countenance was an awful majesty, tempered with a humane
sweetness, ever unwilling to punish, yet always afraid of offending
justice; and if at any time necessity obliged him to use the rod, he did
it with so much humanity and compassion, as plainly indicated the duties
of his office forced, rather than the cruelty or haughtiness of his
temper prompted to it; and while the unhappy criminal suffered a
corporeal punishment, he did all that lay in his power, to the end that
it might have a due effect, by endeavouring to amend the mind with
salutary advice; if the exigencies of the state required taxes to be
levied upon the subjects, he never, by his authority or office, excused
himself from bearing his full proportion; nor even would he meanly submit
to see any of his fellow-justices do so.
It was before such a justice Mr. Carew had the good fortune to be
carried: they found him in his court-yard, just mounting his horse to go
out, and he very civilly inquired their business; the timbermen told him
they had got a runaway: the justice then inquired of Mr. Carew who he
was: he replied he was a sea-faring man, belonging to the Hector
privateer of Boston, captain Anderson, and as they could not agree, he
had left the ship. The justice told him he was very sorry it should
happen so, but he was obliged by the laws of his country to stop all
passengers who could not produce passes; and, therefore, though
unwillingly, he should be obliged to commit him; he then entertained him
very plentifully with victuals and drink, and in the mean time made his
commitment for New Town gaol. Mr. Carew, finding his commitment made,
told the timbermen, that, as they got their money easily, he would have a
horse to ride upon, for it was too hot for him to walk in that country.
The justice merrily cried, Well spoken, prisoner. There was then a great
ado with the timbermen to get a horse for him; but at last one was
procured, and our hero, mounted on a milk-white steed, was conveyed in a
sort of triumph to New Town, the timbermen performing the cavalcade on
foot.
The commitment was directed to the under-sheriff in New Town, a saddler
by profession, who immediately waited on him to the prison; he found it
well peopled, and his ears were confused with almost as many dialects as
put a stop to the building of Babel. Mr. Carew saluted them, and
courteously inquired what countrymen they were: some were from Kilkenny,
some Limeric, some Dublin, others of Somerset, Dorset, Devon, and
Cornwall; so that he found he had choice enough of companions, and, as he
saw he had no remedy but patience, he endeavoured to amuse himself as
well as he could.
Looking through the bars one day, he espied a whipping-post and gallows,
at which he turned to his companions, and cried out, A fine sight truly
this is, my friends! which was a jest many of them could not relish, as
they had before tasted of the whipping; looking on the other side, he saw
a fine house, and demanding whose it was, they told him it was the
assembly-house. While he was thus amusing himself, reflecting on the
variety of his fate, fortune was preparing a more agreeable scene for
him. A person coming up to the window, asked where the runaway was, who
had been brought in that day, Mr. Carew composedly told him he was the
man; they then entered into discourse, inquiring of each other of what
country they were, and soon found they were pretty near neighbours, the
person who addressed him being one out of Dorsetshire. While they were
talking, our hero seeing the tops of some vessels riding in the river,
inquired what place they belonged to. The man replied, To the west of
England, to one Mr. Buck of Biddeford, to whom most of the town belonged.
Our hero's heart leaped for joy at this good news, and he hastily asked
if the captains Kenny, Hervey, Hopkins, and George Bird were there; the
man replying in the affirmative, still heightened his satisfaction. Will
you have the goodness to be an unfortunate prisoner's friend, said he to
the person he was talking with, and present my humble duty to any of
them, but particularly to Captain Hervey, and inform them I am here. The
man very civilly replied he would do it; and asked what he should tell
them was his name? Carew, replied our hero. Away ran the messenger with
great haste, but before he got half way, forgetting the name ran back
again to ask it. Tell them my name is Carew, the rat-catcher; away went
the man again, repeating all the way, Carew, the rat-catcher, lest he
should forget it a second time; and he now executed his message so well,
that very soon after came the captains to the gaol door.
Inquiring for Carew, the rat-catcher, as they wanted to speak with him;
our hero, who heard them, answered with a tantivy, and a halloo to the
dogs; upon which Captain Hervey swore it was Carew, and fell a laughing
very heartily, then coming to the window, they very cordially shook hands
with him, saying, they should as soon have expected to have seen Sir
Robert Walpole there as him. They then inquired by what means he came
there; and he informed them circumstantially of every thing as already
mentioned. The captains asked him if he would drink a glass of rum,
which he accepted of very gladly in his present condition; one of them
quickly sent down to the storehouse for a bottle of rum and a bottle of
October, and then they all went into the gaol, and sat down with him.
Thus did he see himself once more surrounded by his friends, so that he
scarcely regretted his meeting with the timbermen, as they had brought
him into such good company. He was so elevated with his good fortune,
that he forgot all his misfortunes, and passed the evening as cheerfully
as if he was neither a slave nor a prisoner. The captains inquired if he
had been sold to a planter before he made his escape; he replied in the
negative, when they informed him, that unless his captain came and
demanded him, he would be publicly sold the next court-day. When they
took their leaves, they told him they would see him the next morning.
Accordingly they returned very early, and having got admittance into the
prison, hailed him with the pleasing sound of liberty, telling him, they
had agreed among themselves to purchase him, then give him his release,
and furnish him with proper passes; but instead of receiving this joyful
news with the transports they expected, our hero stood for some time
silent and lost in thought. During this while, he reflected within
himself, whether his honour would permit him to purchase his liberty on
these terms: and it was indeed no little struggle which passed in his
breast on this occasion. On the one side, Liberty, with all her charms,
presented herself, and wooed to be accepted, supported by Fear, who set
before his eyes all the horrors and cruelties of a severe slavery; on the
other side, dame Honour, with a majestic mein, forbade him, sounding
loudly in his ears how it would read in future story, that the ingenious
Mr. Carew had no contrivance left to regain his lost liberty, but meanly
to purchase it at his friends' expense. For some time did these passions
remain in equipoise; as thou hast often seen the scales of some honest
tradesman, before he weighs his commodity; but at length honour
preponderated, and liberty and fear flew up and kicked the beam; he
therefore told the captains he had the most grateful sense of this
instance of their love, but that he could never consent to purchase his
freedom at their expense: and therefore desired they would only do him
the favour to acquaint Captain Froade of his being there. The captains
were quite amazed at this resolution, and used great entreaties to
persuade him to alter it, but all in vain; so that at last they were
obliged to comply with his earnest request, in writing to Captain Froade.