It is now the last day of February, 1814. The severity of an English
winter, which is generally milder than the winters of New-England, is
past; and we are as comfortable as can be expected on board a prison
ship; we have a few cents a day to buy coffee, sugar or tobacco; add
to these, we have the luxury of newspapers, which is a high
gratification to the well known curiosity of a _genuine Yankee_, by
which cant term we always mean a New-England man. We have been laughed
at, by the British travellers, for our insatiable curiosity; but such
should remember, that their great moralist, Johnson, tells us that
curiosity is the thirst of the soul, and is a never-failing mark of a
vigorous intellect. The Hottentot has no curiosity--the woolly African
has no curiosity--the vacant minded Chinese has no curiosity--but the
brightest sons of Old England and New, are remarkable for it; insomuch
that they are often the dupes of it. How many thousand guineas a year
are acquired by artful foreigners, in feeding this appetite of our
relation, the renowned _John Bull_? and yet he is never satisfied; his
mouth is open still, and so wide, very lately, that Bonaparte had like
to have jumped into it, suit and all!!
We should have taken, perhaps, more satisfaction in the perusal of
these newspapers, had they not been so excessively expensive. We took
the _Statesman_, the _Star_, and _Bell's Weekly Messenger_; and some
part of the time, the _Whig_. The expense of the Statesman was
defrayed by the sale of green fish to the contractor. The Star was
taken by the Frenchmen; the Whig and Bell's Weekly Messenger, by
individuals. We paid twenty-eight shillings sterling per month, for
the Statesman, which is twice the price of a newspaper in Boston, for
a whole year. Besides it costs us sixteen shillings per month to get
these papers conveyed on board. The reader will probably say, in the
language of Dr. Franklin's allegory, that considering our destitute
condition, "we paid dear for our whistle." These newspapers were
smuggled, or pretended to be smuggled; our commander's pocket was not
the lighter for New-England "_quidnuncism_." But every day afforded
instances of meanness; scraping misery to the bone, for a few pence.
The United States is the region of all regions of the earth for
newspapers. _There are more newspapers printed in the United States,
than in all the rest of the world besides._ We do not mean a greater
number of copies of the same title, but a greater number of different
titles; insomuch, that invention is nearly exhausted to afford them
new names. In England, newspapers pay a very high tax; in America,
they are perfectly free, and their transport by the mails is nearly
so; and this is because our government, that is to say, the _people_,
consider newspapers one of the necessaries of a Yankee's life. In the
definition of a New-England man, you should always insert that he is
"_a go to meeting animal_, and _a newspaper reading animal_!" The sums
which we poor prisoners paid for one English newspaper a year, would
have paid the annual board of a man in the interior of our own
plentiful country. I am firmly of opinion, however, that Boston has
and will have reason to curse her _federal_ newspapers. They, like,
the "_Courier_" and "_Times_," of London have spread false principles,
and scattered error amongst a people too violently prejudiced to read
both sides of the question.
I thought that, at this time, we were as happy, or as free from
misery, as at any time since our captivity. The pleasant season was
advancing, the days growing longer, and the nights shorter, and our
condition seemed improving, when a dreadful calamity broke out upon
us; I mean the _Small pox_. There are no people on the face of the
earth, who have such a dread of this distemper as the people of
New-England. Their laws and their municipal regulations prove this. No
person can remain in his own house with this disorder; but certain
municipal officers take charge of him, and convey him to the small pox
hospital, provided by the laws for the reception of such patients. If
the disorder has progressed so far as to render it, in the opinion of
physicians, dangerous to life to remove him, then the street, where he
lives, is fenced up, and a guard placed so that no one can pass, and a
red flag is hoisted on the house. These formidable precautions may
have added to the dread of this loathsome disease.
When this alarming distemper first appeared in the ship, the surgeon
had all the prisoners mustered, to inquire of them who had had the
small pox, and who the _kine_ pock; or, as they call it in England,
the _cow_ pock. He vaccinated a number. But there were several
instances of persons who said they were inoculated with the kine pock
in America, who took the small pox the natural way at this time. I do
not consider this as, in any degree diminishing the value of this
important discovery and practice. Very few practitioners understand
this business; and a great number of people in the United States have
inoculated themselves, without knowing at what period to take the
matter; and without knowing the true pustule from the spurious. Many
of our prisoners absolutely refused to be vaccinated, although they
believed in its efficacy of guarding them from small pox. I was
greatly surprised at this, until I found that they felt no disposition
to preserve their lives any longer. It seemed that their misery had
so far lessened their attachment to life, that they were indifferent
as to any method of preserving it. I was surprized to find this in
some who I had considered as among the most cheerful. I was shocked to
find among these a weight of woe I little expected. Several of them
told me that life was a burthen; that pride of character kept them
from whining, and forced a smile on their countenance, while their
being penned up, like so many dirty hogs, had chilled their souls, and
sunk them, at times, into despondency. Some said, that nothing but the
hope of revenge kept them alive.
There are two extremes of the mind producing a disregard for life. The
one is, the fever or delirium of battle, augmented and kept up by the
cannon's roar, the sight of blood, and military music; here a man,
being all soul, thinks nothing of his body. The other case is, where
his body is debilitated, his spirit half extinguished, and his soul
desponding, and his body paralized. Here existence is a burden, and
the attachment to life next to nothing. It is here that death appears
to open the gate of the prison. I found, to my surprize, that several
of our countrymen were in this desponding state.
Some refused to be vaccinated, from a persuasion that the kine pock
was no security against the small pox. When I endeavoured to convince
several of them of their error, one asked me if a weak man could drive
away a strong one; or a small evil drive away a great one? A man need
not despair in making a certain class of people believe any thing but
truth.
It is surprizing that when our countryman, Dr. Waterhouse, first
introduced this new inoculation into America, in the year 1800, what
an opposition the practice met with; and nothing but the most
persevering and unwearied exertions, and public experiments, could
overcome the reluctance, in numbers, to receive this great blessing.
The same perversity of judgement was observable among individuals in
this prison ship.
As the spring advanced, the men, contrary to my expectation, became
more desponding, and the _Typhus fever_, or rather the _jail fever_,
appeared among them. From four to six are taken down with it every
day. We have about nine hundred men on board this ship; eight hundred
of us wretched prisoners, and one hundred Englishmen. We are more
crowded than is consistent with health or comfort. Our hammocks are
slung one above another. It is warm and offensive in the middle of our
habitation; and those who have hammocks near the ports, are unwilling
to have them open in the night. All this impedes the needful
circulation of fresh air. It is a little singular, that it is the
robust and hearty that are seized with this fever, before those who
are weak in body, and, apparently, desponding in mind.
As the appropriate hospital-ship is now crowded with sick, we are
obliged to retain a number in the Crown Prince. The _sick bay_ of this
ship is now arranged like to an hospital ship; and the hospital
allowance served out; and the chief surgeon visits us every week. Our
committee, composed of the oldest and most respectable men amongst us,
do every thing in their power to keep the ship and the prisoners
clean. Men are appointed to inspect the prisoners' clothes and
bedding; and even to punish those who refused, or were too indolent to
wash themselves and their clothing; for there were some who were more
like hogs than men; such is the effects of situations and
circumstances. Our most influential men set the example of
cleanliness; and endeavoured to instill into the minds of others the
great importance of being free from all kinds of filth.
It is now the first day of April, 1814, and the small pox and typhus
fever still prevail in the different ships, especially on board the
ship called the Bahama. One hundred and sixty-one Americans were put
on board her in the month of January. She had been used as a prison
for Danish sailors, many of whom were sick of typhus fever. These
Americans came, like the rest of us, from Halifax; being weary,
fatigued, and half-starved, their dejected spirits and debilitated
bodies, then aptly disposed to imbibe the contagion. Accordingly soon
after they went on board, they were attacked with it. All the Danes
are sent out of her; and her upper deck is converted into an hospital;
and the surgeon has declared the ship to be infectious; and no one
communicates with her but such as supply the ship and attend the sick.
While "_sick and imprisoned_," Mr. Beasly "_visited us not_"; but sent
his clerk, a Mr. Williams, to supply the most needy with clothes; and
instead of applying to the committee, who could have informed him
correctly who most needed them, he adopted the mode most liable to
lead to deception and injustice. This Mr. B. seems, from the
beginning, to have considered his countrymen as a set of cheating,
lying, swindling rascals; and a mutual contempt has existed between
them. We wish all our officers and agents would bear in mind this
fact, that complacency begets complacency; and contempt begets
contempt.
We, Americans, have seen and severely felt the highly pernicious and
demoralizing tendency of _gambling_; and we have been long wishing to
break up the practice; and our selectmen, or committee, were
determined to effect it. We accordingly took a vote, agreeably to the
custom of our country, and it was found to be the will of the majority
to prohibit the practice of it. We began with the _roulette_ table, or
as our men called them, "wheels of fortune." After no small opposition
from the French officers, we succeeded in putting them down; but we
could not succeed so easily against the billiard tables. It was
contended by many that it was an exercise, and a trial of skill; and
if confined to a halfpenny, or one cent a game, it could not be
dangerous to the morals, or property of the community. On this a warm
and long dispute arose, in defining gambling. The playing of billiards
for a cent a game, was contended to be a muscular exercise, and not
gambling; whereas cards were denounced, as a studied, sedentary
contrivance, for the artful to draw money from the pockets of the
artless.
The owners of "the wheels of fortune" were, perhaps, envied. They made
money, and lived better than the rest; and the same remark was made of
the owners of the billiard tables. In the course of debate they were
tauntingly called the _privileged order_, and rising from one degree
of odious epithet to another, I could not help laughing, on hearing
one angry orator pronounce this scheme of screwing money out of the
pockets of the artless, and then laughing at their poverty and
distress, to be down right FEDERALISM. Now it should be known that a
_Federalist_ and _Federalism_, are the most odious ideas that can be
raised up in the minds of every American prisoner in this river. A law
was, therefore, proposed, to fine any American prisoner, who should
call another a _Federalist_.
This state of contention continued five or six days; when, I am sorry
to say it, the gambling party increased rather than lessened. At
length two of the party ventured to recommence gambling--one of them
was immediately sent for by the committee, who ordered him to be
confined in the _black hole_. This lit up a blaze the committee little
contemplated. The whole body of the commons cried out against this
summary and arbitrary proceeding. This was pronounced to be such an
alarming attack on the liberty of the prisoners, that every freeman in
the prison ship was called upon to rise up and resist the daring
encroachment on the birthright of an American. A strong party was at
once formed in favor of the man who was imprisoned without a trial. On
this occasion the names of _Hamden_, _Sidney_, and _Wilks_, were
echoed from all quarters of our prison. The liberty of the citizen,
and false imprisonment were discanted on in a loud and moving manner.
Some talked of a writ of habeas corpus, but others knew not what it
meant; but all agreed that it was unconstitutional to confine a man in
prison without trial. One man had the imprudence to say that they
would have French fashions among them, of imprisoning and hanging a
man, and trying him afterwards. This roused the ire of some of the
officers of that nation, who declared in a rage, that it was not the
fashion in France to hang a man and try him afterwards. They all
agreed, however, that it was an illegal act to confine the man without
trial; and that this was a precedent dangerous to the liberties of the
prisoner, and that they ought to protest against it. This was a
curious scene to the surgeon, and some other pretty sensible English
officers; one of whom observed to another, in my hearing, these
Americans are certainly the most singular set of men I ever met with.
The man who had been confined, was allowed to come from his
confinement, and speak for himself. He had "the gift of the gab," and
a species of forcible eloquence that some of our lawyers might envy.
He would have distinguished himself in any of our town meetings; and
with cultivation, might have shown in history. He, however, committed
that very common fault among our popular orators,--_he talked too
much_. The President of the Committee was not much of a speaker; but
he was a man of sense and prudence. Cool as he was, he was thrown a
little off his guard by an intemperate phrase of the culprit; who in
the ardor of his defence, accused the President of being a
_Federalist_; and this turned the current of favor against the
unguarded orator, and he was from all sides, hissed. When quiet was
restored, the President took advantage of the current just turned in
his favor, and said, "Fellow Prisoners! I perceive that I have
committed an error in confining this man without a previous trial, and
I am sorry for it. At the time, I thought I was doing right; but I
now see that I was wrong." He then proposed to have the accused
regularly tried, before the full committee, which he hoped would prove
themselves the real representatives of the community, collected in
course of events within the planks of an enemy's prison ship. He
exhorted the committee not to be influenced by party, prejudice, or
local attachment, but to act justly and independently. The accused was
allowed to speak for himself. He was not an old Jack Tar, but the son
of a respectable New England yeoman, with a clear head, and not
destitute of learning, nor was he ignorant of the law. He defended
himself with real ability, and the spirit of Emmet spoke with him.
Among other things, he said--"What have I done to bring down upon me
the resentment of the committee, and the vengeance of its President?
In attempting to establish the rights of this little community, I have
suffered the ignominy of a close confinement, by the order of my own
countrymen. While we are suffering oppression, degradation and insult,
from the external enemy, shall we redouble our misery, by wrongfully
oppressing one another? I thought it my duty to exert myself in favor
of an equality of rights among us. I could not bear to hear the
domineering language, and see the overbearing conduct of the purse
proud among us; of a set of cunning, tricking, slight-of-hand men, who
were constantly stripping the unwary and artless American, of the
small sums he had acquired, not by gaming, but by labor and good
behaviour. I was an enemy to all this; but I was a friend to the
freedom of judgment, and the freedom of action, provided it did not
injure the whole. If after what has been experienced, our countrymen
will gamble with certain Frenchmen, above the rank of common seamen,
let them do it, and endure the consequences. It is wrong to attempt to
abridge the liberty of amusement, if that amusement does not harm, or
endanger the comfort of the whole." The man was acquitted, and
escorted to his birth in triumph.
It is surprising what trifling things will influence a crowd! A few
minutes previous to this man's bold harrangue, every one, almost, was
against him; but as soon as he tickled their ears with a flourishing
speech, where much more ability was shewn than was expected, instantly
they clap their hands, admire his talents, applaud his sentiments, and
think directly contrary to what they did five minutes before. From
this incident have I been seriously impressed with the dangerous
effects of eloquence. Here this man made "the worse appear the better
reason." But how many instances have we of the same effect in the
Grecian, Roman, English and French history!
This trial, and this specimen of oratory, convinced me that Liberty is
the parent of eloquence. I have noticed a striking difference between
our men and those of England, with all their loud talk of English
freedom. When an American speaks to an officer set over him, he utters
all that he has to say in a ready and fearless manner; but when these
Englishmen come on board of us to bring vegetables, or any thing else
to dispose of, they stand with their caps off, scratching their heads,
through awe and embarrassment; and every other word is, "Yes, your
Honor," or, "Will your Honor have this, or your Honor have that;" and
"your Honor knows best;" and all such mean and slavish language. It is
remarkable that you never hear this sort of language, and see this
servile manner, in the common savages of our wilderness. It belongs
only to the common people, and I am told, to the shop-keepers of
England, and to our negroes. Necessity first inspires the poor with
awe for the rich, and by and by it grows into a principle.
A day or two after these transactions we resumed the consideration of
the practice of gambling, and we turned the tables against the
billiard players; and they were taken down by an almost unanimous
consent; whatever some individuals thought or wished, the general
opinion was so strong that they dare not express it. The authority of
the committee and the authority of the President, were established
more firmly than ever.
While writing down these occurrences, I have thought that we might
here see the great characters and the important doings of the Grecian,
Roman and American Republics, in a very small compass. Here we saw the
struggles of vice and virtue, wisdom and folly, and the desire of
distinction, and the ambition of taking the lead, and the little
workings of emulation, amid rags and tatters. As often as I moaned
over wearied moments of captivity, I do not think the time entirely
lost to me. I learnt a great deal. I saw close to them the first
workings of those springs which set republics, kingdoms, empires, and
armies in motion; the winds and tides, without which, the great ocean
of human life would stagnate, and all within its vast bounds would
perish--until now, I saw the human heart covered over by pride,
encrusted by avarice or cloaked round by hypocrisy; I now saw it
exposed, naked and bare, to the inspection of each man's neighbour.
There are among us Americans on board this prison ship, some men of
sense and principle; but there are many more, especially among the
soldiery, some of the lowest of the American community; the very dregs
of the American people. They are lazy, dirty, lying, and profligate;
and yet they are total strangers to some of the worst vices of these
Frenchmen. But I forbear to enlarge, and shall quit this odious
subject by wishing that all young Americans may stay at home, and if
possible, never mix with these veterans in vice, who inhabit what is
called the old world. Next to the French, I believe the Irish the next
in vicious actions. An Irishman appears to have more spirit than
brains. There are only two situations in which an Irishman seems
perfectly happy, viz. when he has plenty of liquor to drink, and a
number of friends to give it to; and perhaps we may add, when he is
wrangling in a mob. They are amiable, yet bloody; they have the
noblest feelings, with savage hearts. Their passions have the most
rapid transitions, so that they will hug a man one minute, and the
next knock him on the head. I speak only from my observations in this
confined place.--With the same limitation I speak of the Portuguese
and Spaniards, a few of whom are here among us. They are rattlesnakes;
shining, glossy, malignant and revengeful beyond any fellows I ever
met with. They are void, however, of one virtue of our rattlesnakes;
they will stab a man to the heart without giving him any warning. I
have charitably supposed that when in a violent passion, they are
bereft of reason, and become entirely insane. My observations,
however, like my remarks on Frenchmen are confined to the narrow
space of this floating prison. We should be very cautious in making
general or national censures. I have suspected whether among the Roman
Catholics, the practice of confession and absolution had not opened a
door for some horrid crimes, such as murder. It may be too, that they
look upon us, Protestants, as the Mahomedans do the Christians, a sort
of outcasts, the killing of whom amounts not to the horrid sin of
murder. It is certain that some of these people have been known to
plunge a knife into a man with no more compunction than an Englishman
or an American would use his fist.