431 ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS, EXTRACTS, &c. Dictates of Conscience obeyed by a grasshopper or an angle-worm on Nauticus Agricola." [To the Editor of the Herald of Peace.] SIR,-During the last unhappy war between this country and the land of our forefathers, I lived in a privateering port, into which many British prizes were brought. I one day attended a sale of prize goods; and having resolved to leave the sea-board and retire into the country, I bought a fowling-piece, with which I expected to amuse myself with sporting when at leisure. Guns of all descriptions were then high, and I paid eighteen dollars for it. As soon as I was settled on my farm, I improved, or rather I misimproved, every leisure hour in shooting pigeons, partridges, squirrels, and, in short, every kind of wild creature which came in my way, large or small. One day, finding nothing else to shoot, I brought down a poor little robin-not of the species you have in England, but about twice as large, and considered a great dainty. I took the poor little dying bird in my hand; and, as it cast up its bloodshot eye on mine in its last convulsive quiver, it seemed to say, What did you shoot me for?" Said I to myself, "Why, for sport." "For sport!" said conscience" for sport! What right have you to kill God's creatures for sport 2" Quoth I to myself, "What right!" I had no answer for conscience, and this was the last bird I ever shot for sport. I had bought also, at a private sale, a fine set of English fishing gear, and often amused myself with catching trouts, or any other fish that I could, regardless of Johnson's definition of angling," A rod and line, with a worm at one end, and a fool at the other." But the murdered bird now began to speak to me when I impaled my hook, or when I saw the poor little fishes gasping for breath on the sandy margin of the brook for sport, and I lost all relish for the amusement and the fishing - lines, except what were used about the farm for chalklines; and all the other gear were put away in a closet where they still remain. But I have not done with the gun. Providence placed in my way some tracts of the Massachusetts Peace Society. I read and was convinced; and, soon after, procured all the publications of your Society. I now began to perceive the great sin and turpitude of privateering-that astonishing disgrace of Christendom; and that the gun I had bought was no better than stolen or robbed; and I resolved, if ever I had an opportunity, to repay its value to the former owner: but there was no probability of my ever knowing who he might be, for our privateers' men were scattered abroad, and either dead or bankrupt. I had always considered that the receiver of stolen goods, knowing them to be stolen, was as bad as the thief; and every time I saw the gun, it called me thief. It was put away out of sight in a closet; but still the spirit of the gun haunted the house, and "thief, thief, thief," seemed to be continually resounding in my ears. At length, I sold the gun for ten dollars, with the solemn injunction, that it should never be used to kill birds for sport. But, now, what shall I do with the money? for it is not mine-it is the price of stolen goods, and I do not know where to find the right owner. At length, I have determined that, if I cannot give it to the individual owner, I will send it back to the country from which the gun was stolen or plundered, and devote it to the cause of permanent and universal peace. I hope the proceeds will assist in diffusing light and knowledge on the evils and crimes of war, and in fostering a better spirit between this country and our father-land; so that, at length, privateering and every other unholy and wicked practice, which accompanies the custom of war, may be mutually abolished; and the time may come, when the nations shall learn war no more. I therefore send you a draft for two guineas, which, according to the current exchange, is near the value of the ten dollars, to be paid into the treasury of the Society for Promoting Permanent and Universal Peace. Yours, sincerely, NAUTICUS AGRICOLA. Maine, United States, May 10, 1832. History of a Pirate. SIR,-Among the many atrocities which are to be traced to war is piracy, Governments authorise privateering, and piracy is only a more desperate species of privateering. The principal difference is, that governments monopolize to themselves the right of defrauding on the high seas innocent persons of their property, while the pirate is condemned to die for doing the same act without their licence: hence he incurs a risk, which makes him add murder to robbery. The following account of Charles Gibbs, who was executed at New York for piracy, on the 23d of May, 1831, will corroborate this view of the subject. He was a native of Rhode Island, and brought up to the sea; he served first in the navy of the United States, and was captured when on board the Chesapeake. After his liberation, by an exchange of prisoners, he abandoned the sea and returned to Rhode Island; but after a few months he entered again. Upon the death of an uncle, he came into possession of about 2000 dollars, with which he set up in the grocery business at Boston; but being unsuccessful, he again went to sea. Eventually, he served on board the Columbian privateer, Maria, Captain Bell. The crew being dissatisfied, in consequence of the non-payment of their prize-money, a mutiny arose; the crew took possession of the schooner, and landed the officers near Pensacola. They cruised for a short time with but little success, and it was then unanimously determined to hoist the black flag, and declare war against all nations. Their bloody purpose was not carried, however, into immediate execution. They boarded a number of vessels, and allowed them to pass unmolested, there being no specie on board, and their cargo not being convertible into any thing valu able to themselves. At last one of the crew, named Antonio, suggested, that an arrangement could be made with a man in Havannah, that would be mutually beneficial; that he would receive all their goods, sell them, and divide the proceeds. This suggestion being favourably received, they ran up within two miles of the Moro Castle, and sent Antonio on shore to see the merchant, and make a contract with him. Previous to this, Gibbs had been chosen to navigate the vessel. Antonio succeeded in arranging every thing according to their wishes, and Capé Antonio was appointed as the place of rendezvous. The merchant was to furnish droghers to transport the goods to Havannah. The Maria now put to sea, with a crew of fifty men, principally Spaniards and Americans, with every hope of infamous 'success. The first vessel she fell in with was the Indispensable, an English ship, bound to Havannah, which was taken and carried to Cape Antonio. The crew were immediately destroyed: those who resisted were hewn to pieces;: - those who offered no resistance were reserved to be shot and thrown overboard. A French brig, with a cargo of wine and silk, was taken shortly after. The vessel was burnt, and the crew murdered. Gibbs was now unanimously chosen their leader in all their future enterprises. To reap a golden harvest, without the hazard of encountering living witnesses of their crimes, it was unanimously resolved to spare no lives, and to burn and plunder without mercy. He now directed his course towards the Bahama Banks, where they captured a brig, believed to be the William from New York, for some port in Mexico, with a cargo of furniture-destroyed the crew, took the ship to Cape Antonio, and sent the furniture and other articles to their friend at Havannah. Some time during this cruise, the pirate was chased for nearly a whole day by a United States ship, supposed to be the John Adams; they hoisted patriot colours, and finally escaped. In the early part of the summer of 1817, they took the Earl of Moira, an English ship from London, with a cargo of dry goods. The crew were destroyed, the vessel burnt, and the goods carried to the Cape. There they had a settlement with their Havannah friend, and the proceeds were divided according to agreement. Gibbs then repaired to Havannah, introduced himself to the merchant, and made further arrangements for the successful prosecution of his piracies. On his arrival at Cape Antonio, he found that his comrades were in a state of complete mutiny and rebellion, and that many of them had been killed. His energy checked the disturbance, and all agreed to submit to his orders, and put any one to death who should dare to disobey him. About this period, Gibbs' correspondence with Havannah and other stations, enabled him to elude the cruisers of both England and America. In his visits to Havannah, his fine manners and dashing expenditure, brought him into the society of the officers of the vessels of war, of whom he inquired respecting the success of their various expeditions for the suppression of piracy, and made himself acquainted with the speed of their vessels, and frequently learnt the track of their ensuing voyages in search of piratical vessels. During a cruise, which was made in the latter part of 1817, and the beginning of 1818, a Dutch ship, bound from Curaçoa to Holland, with a cargo of West India goods, and a great quantity of silver plate, was captured. The crew and passengers, in all thirty persons, were murdered and thrown into the sea. Among the passengers was the family of a Dutch gentleman returning to Holland, consisting of himself, his wife, servants, and an only daughter-a young lady in the bloom of youth and beauty. After witnessing the slaughter of her parents, the unfortunate girl fell upon her knees to the captain of the pirates, and intreated him to save her from destruction, in a manner so moving, that at the hazard of his own life, from the jealousy of his ruffian associates, Gibbs promised to preserve her, and she was carried off to their encampment at Cape Antonio. Here she lived about two months in a state of mind, more easily to be conceived than described, with all the horrors of the remembrance of her murdered parents, her own desolation, and the hopelessness of ever seeing again her home and country, and in perpetual dread of death from a desperate crew, whose policy it was to allow no human witness to escape. Frequent dissensions respecting her arose among the pirates, and upon one occasion her brains were about to be dashed out with the handle of a pump by one of the most desperate of the gang; to prevent which Gibbs was compelled to shoot the ruffian dead upon the spot. At length, so much were the villains alarmed at the risk they incurred by preserving her, that a council of war was held upon her fate, when Gibbs was compelled to consent to her destruction, whereupon this miserable lady was carried off by poison when only about the age of seventeen. Her melancholy end, Gibbs declared, had caused 3 к him more horror than all the atrocities of his sanguinary life. The piratical schooner was shortly afterwards driven ashore near the Cape, and so much damaged, that it was found necessary to destroy her. A new sharp-built schooner was in consequence provided by their faithful friend in Havannah, called the Picciana, and despatched to their rendezvous. In this vessel they cruised successfully for some years. Among the vessels that were taken and destroyed with the crews, were the brig Jane of Liverpool; a brig (the name forgotten) of New York, from the Spanish main; the brig Belvidera of Boston, taken in the Gulf; two French brigs in the Gulf of Mexico; the ship William of Saltown, took from her a large quantity of plate, some gilt-edged paper, and from twenty to thirty pianofortes. A French ship, name unknown, cargo of wine; the ship Earl Moira of London; and the ship Indispensable of London. There were many other vessels taken, and among them Americans. Every thing valuable was taken from them, and the vessels and crews destroyed. The goods were sent to their friend in Havannah, from whom they received half the proceeds. Some time in the course of 1819, Gibbs left Havannah, and came to the United States, bringing with him about 30,000 dollars. He passed several weeks in New York, and then went to Boston, whence he took passage for Liverpool, in the ship Emerald. Before he sailed, however, he had squandered a large part of his money in dissipation and gambling. He remained in Liverpool a few months, and then returned to Boston, in the ship Topaz, Captain Lewis. While at Liverpool, he became acquainted with a woman, of whom he 66 says, I fell in with a woman, who was, as I thought, all virtue but she deceived me; and I am sorry to say, that a heart that never felt abashed at scenes of carnage and blood, was made a child of for a time by her; and I gave way to dissipation to drown the torment." After his return to Boston, he sailed for Havannah, and again commenced his piratical career. In 1826, he revisited the United States, and hearing of the war between Brazil and the republic of Buenos Ayres, he sailed from Boston in the brig Kitty of Portsmouth, with a determination, as he stated, of trying his fortune in the defence of a republican government. Upon his arrival, he made himself known to Admiral Brown, and communicated his desire to join their navy. The admiral accompanied him to the governor, and a lieutenant's commission being given him, he joined a ship of thirty-four guns, called The Twenty-fifth of May. There he remained in the capacity of fifth lieutenant, for about four months. Having succeeded in gaining the confidence of Admiral Brown, he put him in command of a privateer schooner, and he sailed for Buenos Ayres, made two good cruises, and returned safely to port. He then bought one-half of a new Baltimore schooner, and sailed again; but was captured, after being seven days out, and carried into Janeiro. He remained there until peace took place, when he returned to Buenos Ayres, and from thence to New York. The documents from whence we compile this account of Gibbs, the pirate, do not observe a chronological order in the narrative, which would enable us to ascertain how long before his trial and execution it was that Gibbs left off his piratical career. It deserves notice, as a redeeming trait in his character, that when himself and his ruffian crew fell in with the ship Providence of Providence, from which they took 10,000 dollars, she was suffered to pass, as the captain could not consent to destroy his own countrymen. It appears that, in addition to the Picciana, the pirates had another schooner, called Margaretta, with which they also cruised. The capture of the two schooners, and the destruc tion of their fort at Cape Antonio, of circumstances, the woman with whom which Gibbs gave the following ac- he became acquainted at Liverpool, count, but without date, probably and who is said at that time to have stopped this band of pirates in their been a decent character, was confined sanguinary career of crime. in the same prison as himself. He wrote her two letters during his confinement. Gibbs was married at Buenos Ayres, where a child of his is living; his wife is dead. He refused to tell the name of any persons connected with him in his piracies, but admitted that there were many then living in the United States. Though he gave no evidence of a contrite heart, yet he dwelt with reluctance upon the crimes, of which he acknowledged himself guilty. He was affable and communicative; and, when he smiled, exhibited so mild and gentle a countenance, that no one would have taken him for a villain. "While I was in the schooner, Margaretta, we took the American ship Caroline, and run her on shore at Cape Antonio. The United States' armed vessel, the Enterprise, came alongside shortly after; and before we had a chance of taking any thing out of her, the crew, or some of the crew, of the Enterprise, landed; we had a fight with them, some of our men were killed, and I believe some of theirs. We were beaten and driven to the mountains, where we remained some days. We then separated; some got to Trinadada, south-side Cuba; others got to Havannah. The crew of the Enterprise destroyed our fort, took the goods from the Caroline, and our two vessels, the Margaretta and Picciana." The war between France and Algiers attracted the attention of Gibbs. Knowing that the French commerce presents a fine opportunity for plunder, he determined to embark for Algiers, and offer his services to the Dey. He accordingly took passage from New York, in the Sally Ann; landed at Barcelona, crossed to Port Mahon, and endeavoured to make his way to Algiers. The vigilance of the French fleet prevented the accomplishment of his purpose, and he proceeded to Tunis. He afterwards took passage to Marseilles, and from thence to Boston. From Boston he sailed to New Orleans, and 'there entered as one of the crew of the brig Vineyard. When asked, why he, who had been accustomed to command, should enter as a common sailor on board the Vineyard; he answered, that he sought employment to assuage the horrors of reflection. Of the means by which Gibbs was taken up and committed for trial, nothing is said in the accounts before us. When he was in prison at New York, by a singular concurrence of A few days before his execution, Gibbs was visited by a clergyman from his native town. He appeared impenitent and strikingly indifferent to his fate. He conversed with stubborn composure about the rope, the hangman, and all the apparatus of his inglorious death: yet occasionally a word of regret would fall from his lips. "Had I been instructed in Sabbath schools," he said, “ they would have saved me from the gallows; but Sabbath schools were fifteen years too late for me."- "How came you to know about Sabbath - schools ?" inquired his visitant. Oh, I knew that the religious world was all alive; we found tracts and reports on board the vessels which we captured-I read them all." Seldom have I found a man in any part of the world," he observed, who could compete with me in matters of intellect; but I have felt myself inferior in mental cultivation.” The Sunday-school instruction, and the mental cultivation, of the want of which he complains, must mean moral and religious instruction, as it appears from the above narrative, that he could read and write with facility: but there is reason to doubt, whether to a want of religious instruction, so much as to 66 |