his corrupt and impenitent heart is to be attributed the long career of crime, in which he had indulged; for he says, At the age of fourteen, I was almost a Christian. As I sat in the back seat above the singers in the gallery of your meeting-house, I often trembled in the view of my eternal destiny, as described in the faithful preaching of father G.”

Such is the sketch of the career and character of this noted pirate: from it may be seen the close affinity there is between the privateer and the pirate; and of both, war is the parent. Gibbs commenced his career in the service of his country, in what is called honourable warfare with her enemies. Ill success induced him to quit that service and return to Rhode Island; but a restless wandering disposition did not permit him to settle long on shore. He enters a privateer, a legal and honourable mode of robbing the innocent and peaceful subjects of the enemy. The captain seemed disposed to withhold from his men their portion of the proceeds of his robberies; this attempt to defraud them, however, cost him dear; he lost his vessel as well as his plunder, and his mutinous crew set up for themselves; but their gains not being equal to their desires, they determined to extend the sphere of their operations to merchant vessels of every nation that should fall in their way.

In this process of crime, every step from first to last is prohibited by the moral precepts of the Gospel. It is not to be denied, that there was a gradation of crime. A man might, through the prejudices of education and his subsequent associations, persuade himself that he was only doing his duty by fighting for her against her armed foes, and he might nevertheless feel a repugnance to attack an unarmed merchant vessel, that was peacefully pursuing her way; but when we once diverge from the strict morality of the Gospel, it is not for man to say where he will stop on the downward road of crime. When a man

engages in war, he places himself under a law which is based upon the principle of retaliation, of returning evil for evil, and which demands an implicit and blind obedience; a law which authorises you to seize, burn, or destroy every thing belonging to an enemy; hence, a privateer may legally capture merchant-vessels, and, pirate-like, seize the goods of private individuals, who have never engaged in the war. The history of Gibbs proves, that the transition from the privateer to the pirate is not so violent as some may suppose; it is only an extension of the principle of privateering,-in both cases the innocent and peaceable are robbed of their property. In one case, the law indeed sanctions the robbery; in the other case, prohibits it, and under the penalty of death-a penalty which, instead of deterring, provokes to a tenfold increase of crime: for mark what Gibbs himself said, when asked, "Why they were so cruel as to kill so many persons, when they had secured all their money?"-"The laws," said he, “are the cause of so many murders: be cause a man has to suffer death for piracy; and the punishment for murder is no more. Then, you know, all witnesses are out of the way; and I am sure, if the punishment was different, there would not be so many murders." This requires no comment: it fully explains what makes the pirate so desperate a character. That pa triotism, of which the world so much boasts, was not entirely obliterated from the breast of Gibbs; he would not destroy his own countrymen, but suffered them to escape; and his per severing efforts to preserve the life of the young lady, who fell into their hands, and his compunction for sacri ficing her to the fears of his murderous associates, prove that he was not lost to all natural affection. May a gracious Providence preserve us from war, with its kindred privateering and piracy, so that we may not taste their bitter fruits, spoliation, robbery,

and murder.

N.

On the Monument which M. de Sellon is erecting in honour of celebrated Men.

be deemed advisable." For the motion, there were 114, against it, only 15. This was the last act of Mr. Fox; a few days after, he was attacked by the

1832.

[To the Editor.]

SIR. Upon examining the inscriptions upon the monument, which M. de Sellon is erecting at his country house, near Geneva, and which is to be dedicated to the inviolability of the life of man, I see with pain in this consecration of names, dear to humanity and philanthropy, he has entirely excluded the merit and virtues that have distinguished the English, though several of the natives of Great Britain have most powerfully supported the holy cause of which M. de Sellon is the zealous defender. I cannot surely be suspected of having any desire to depreciate the merit of those whose names have been thus honoured, nor of entertaining a doubt of the purity of the motive which has influenced this public tribute. Does not M. de Sellon remember the name of Howard, of him who devoted his whole life, and all the powers of his mind, to mitigate the rigours of prisons, to ameliorate the condition of the prisoners; of Mrs. Fry, that pious and admirable woman, who so nobly followed him in the difficult path he had opened to himself? Does he not approve of Grenville Sharpe, Wilberforce, and other philanthropists, who were the first to raise their voice against the infamous traffic in human flesh and blood? Are we not indebted to England, as a nation, for the abolition of this disgrace to Christianity?

In the month of June, 1806, the celebrated Charles Fox made the following motion in the English Parliament:"That this House, considering the slave-trade to be contrary to the principles of justice, humanity, and policy, will, with all practicable expedition, take effectual measures for the abolition of the said trade, in such a manner, and at such a period, as may

the philosopher, the patriot could not desire a more glorious end of their labours.

I grant that M. de Sellon has often, in his writings, presented to the admiration and eulogy of the public, names of distinguished Englishmen, of Scotchmen, and of Irishmen, who more particularly distinguished themselves by their zeal for the amelioration of the penal code; but that makes more extraordinary their exclusion from the monument, which M. de Sellon is erecting as a permanent token of his approbation.

It is impossible not to admire the conduct of M. Perrier, during his short administration, and his efforts for preserving the peace of Europe: but at the head of a nation as eager of glory and of political liberty as are the French, and under the political circumstances wherein he was placed, I much doubt whether he was possessed of sufficient power to realize his views, or to accomplish or effect his object, without the co-operation of Lords Grey and Brougham, as well as other members of the English administration, whose sentiments are known to all Europe. It is very possible that the governments of France and Great Britain might each miscarry in attempting a project separately; but the two nations, united in a sacred cause, might spread through every part of Europe, the blessings of a general and durable peace.

If I am not mistaken, Elizabeth, Queen of England, was the person who first suggested the idea of a general congress of nations, to maintain, (or for the preservation of) peace by an arbitral tribunal; and if this project has not succeeded better, notwith. standing the generous support it received from the great Henry, to the death of Elizabeth must be attributed,

in a great measure, this want of suc

cess.

I would derogate nothing from the brilliant merit of the French sovereign, but simply obtain a just eulogy for all those who have merited well of mankind; and be it remembered, that England has given a striking example of her love of peace, by submitting to the decision of Holland,- -a difference between her and North America, respecting the boundary line between them.

I flatter myself, that no one will mistake the motives by which I am influenced. I have no other desire than to remove far away any ground or cause of jealousy, every thing that could disturb that harmony, those sentiments of benevolence which, between nations, as between individuals, are the best guarantees of union.

If this writing or article should attract the notice of M. de Sellon, the acknowledged impartiality of his character encourages the hope, that he will grant to the English nation a modest corner upon his monument, on which, if he approve of the idea, he may cause these words to be inscribed,

"And though last, not least, to the British nation."

If my importunity excite surprise, I entreat that it may be attributed to my desire to obtain for my nation an honourable distinction, laudari a laudato viro, and to my high respect for M. de Sellon himself.

It has been suggested, that as the monument is erecting at the expense of M. de Sellon, and at his country seat, it is not an object upon which the public has a claim. I reply, that the object is public, and that it has been publicly announced; so that I think myself fully justified in giving this expression to my sentiments.

NOTA." Vain is the attempt to endeavour to treat conferences with ridicule, or to cast ridicule upon conferences; it does not diminish the proof, that without that of London,

the world would have been delivered up to a general conflagration; but for a conference to be entirely just, all the parties interested should be admitted to it. This is what I understand by an arbitral tribunal." J. A.

The President of the Geneva Peace Society, in reply to the Editors of the Genevese Sentinel.

Geneva, Aug. 31, 1832. SIRS. I have read in your journal of to-day, an article signed J. A., which, I think, calls for an answer, because it concerns the public; if it had only related to me personally, and had only appeared in a pamphlet, I should have been satisfied with a note which I sent to the Genevese Journal, and which was published in a supplement; but this article having been inserted in a journal which may reach England, I think I am called on for an explanation.

The author of the article appears to have forgotten, that the object of the monument, which I am erecting in my garden is entirely specific; that it is dedicated to the inviolability of the life of man; and that, consequently, I should crave to reserve my commemoration to those who, in my opinion, have best served that cause; the author appears also to have forgotten, that I do not propose to testify my obligation to any individual nation; he ought, nevertheless, to have known, by the perusal of my writings, that, on all occasions, I have cited individuals of every nation without exception, when their conduct or their writings supplied me with arguments in favour of the cause which I have espoused.

I have so often cited the 30th Book of Sully's Memoirs, that the author of the article cannot suppose that I am ignorant of the part that Elizabeth, Queen of England, took in the first negociation, in order to attain the submission of all the differences between nations to an arbitral tribunal;

and he will allow me to observe, that the honour of a political plan is always attributed to him who adds the merit of execution to that of conception : now this is the case here; for as Sully informs us, Henry IV. had taken every measure towards the establishment of an arbitral diet, when he fell by the poniard of an assassin. The author of the article having favourably noticed the various writings which I have, for some years past, published, should have understood that I was not disposed to raise a monument to Elizabeth, who so cruelly treated Mary Stuart, notwithstanding her double title of Queen Dowager of France and of Scotland.

The article finishes with a Nota, drawn from one of my works, which completely proves that I acknowledge the support which M. Casimir Perrier derived from the English nation, for the maintenance of the system of peace which he sustained or maintained with so much perseverance.

The future historian will always represent Casimir Perrier as the symbol of peace, after the revolution of 1830. The same historian, when he descants on the constitution of England, will signalize Lord Grey as the symbol of parliamentary reform. When he consigns to infamy the slavery of our fellow-creatures, he will call on posterity to do honour to Wilberforce. When he shall appeal to the community in favour of prisoners, he will perpetuate the memory of John Howard; he will inform the world what Mrs. Fry has done in London for the reformation of confined criminals;-he will praise the celebrated Fox for having devoted his last energies and his dying voice to the cause of the unfortunate Africans. But the advocate for the inviolability of the life of man, should engrave upon his monumental marble only the names of those who have exerted their talents and their influence to obtain, or to declare for, the entire abolition of the punishment of death; or to call for institutions that will make war to cease

This being

among civilized nations. granted, I submit to the public and to the author of the article himself, the claims that Leopold, Grand Duke of Tuscany, Livingstone, Victor de Tracy, Charles Lucas, Henry IV., Sully, Nicolas de Fleu, and Casimir Perrier, have to obtain a place upon a monument, dedicated to the inviolability of the life of man.

I now declare, on no other account, as I have already done in the Genevese journal, in a Fragment upon Peace, of which I was the editor in an autographical letter, that I am quite ready or willing to engrave upon the same monument the names of those, to whatever country they belong, who will openly contribute towards introducing into national and international laws, the principle, that the right to take away life belongs only to God who has given it.

The author of the article will, I hope, acknowledge with me, that those who give an example to the people of condemning murder under every form, are the real and best benefactors of the human race, because they preserve human beings from the only evil which we mortals must pronounce irreparable.

THE PRESIDENT OF THE GENEVA
PEACE SOCIETY.

P. S.-In my Historical Fragments, will be found a long extract from the 30th Book of Sully's Memoirs, to which Mr. J. A. has referred in his pamphlet, and in his article in the Sentinel.

Life of a Sailor.

A WRITER in Campbell's Metropolitan for February, in an article, describing some interesting incidents in the " Life of a Sailor," relates the following affecting anecdote.

"We have had nearly enough of battles, and I should have withheld the following account of a skirmish on shore, had not some of those touching scenes occurred, over which

the mind delights to wander, and memory confers a favour when she startles them into existence. We were about ten miles to the eastward of Marseilles, when we saw a small vessel at anchor in a narrow bay. Prizemoney is like blood to a blood-hound, once tasted never relinquished, without superior force interferes. To see the vessel small as she was, and to know that a certain sum, however small, would follow her capture, were sufficient excitement. Captain Parker, who had then succeeded to the title, in consequence of old Sir Peter Parker's death, having reconnoitred the bay, which seemed totally defenceless, manned the boats, and desired the lieutenant to bring out the prize. We had three boats only employed in this expedition; for, as we could not distinguish the slightest appearance of a fortification, or any thing approximating to a battery, this small force was deemed amply sufficient; and we left the ship, just as sure of a bloodless prize, as we were of our existence. In each boat, however, three marines had been placed to amuse the people on shore, while we towed out the vessel. We approached the land about noon, and shortly were within pistol shot. Not a soul was to be seen, excepting an old woman, who sat at the door of a small hut erected on the further end of the bay; she sat spinning, and seemingly without noticing us. It was a dead calm, and ocean slumbered like an unweaned child.' The bowman was a corpse: a musket had been fired from behind a rock on the left-hand entrance, and that first shot was fatal. It was succeeded by another nearly from the same place, and one marine was disabled; a third came, and tore the cravat from the lieutenant's neck, but did not touch him: a fourth, and the coxswain lost his arm. There was no standing this: it was deliberate murder for ensconced behind the rock, the Frenchmen fired in perfect security; and so small were the apertures

from whence issued their destruction, that they were imperceptible to us. We gave three cheers, and pulled right for the place. Only one more shot came, and that struck an already wounded man. A small sandy cove offered a landing; and one and all, saving the wounded, jumped on shore, and began a search. The lieutenant, myself, and a marine took one direction; the other marine, and some of the boat's crew were left to search the rock, near which we had landed. Ours seemed a hopeless attempt to discover the enemy; we wound along the narrow path, which sometimes offered a view of the water, and then suddenly turned inland. We examined every place with the utmost precaution, and search was useless, until another shot, which missed its mark, convinced us that we were not far from our foes. We pushed on, one after the other, for the road was rugged and narrow, until, coming into a broader and more open view, we saw a man and a little boy retreating in much haste. The instant we hailed him to stop, he turned round and fired. It was again a harmless shot; it grazed the marine, but no mischief was done. The lieutenant instantly fired, but missed the mark: and he desired the marine to do the same, taking care not to hit the boy. The Frenchman again fired, and the little boy instantly gave a cartridge; it was a running fight, and little harm likely to be done by such wild firing. The marine suddenly stopped, and resting his musket against the rock, shot the child; he fell in the act of giving another cartridge. The father instantly relinquished his fire-arms, and fell by the side of his son; of course he was a prisoner in a moment. Our seizing his musket he disregarded; even of our approach he seemed unmindful. He had seated himself, and placing the boy's head upon his lap, was wiping away the blood which oozed from the wound in the forehead. On desiring him to follow us, he paid