The Sun. — London, England, 1816-10-26 00:00:00

TllitlJl': F 1 ~(I RED J.lL:i. A few days ago we noticed the death, at Ja maica, of. John Reeder, so celebrated for his conquest of Three-tinv,ered Jack, on the-27th of January 17S1. For this exploit, Reeder received the refit and of one hundred pound, offered by the Proclamation of Major-General JOHN DALLtNG, then Governor of the Island, and afterwards had au annual stipend of twenty-five pounds, which .was increased of late years to thirty pounds, and paid tinder the Poll-Tax Law. Though this subject has been dramatized, and was well known in all its particulars at the time, yet there is so much chivalrous interest in the story, that it will bear repetition even to thoseof our Readers to whom it dues not bear the charm of novelty " Formerly there was on revilar method Of treating the yaws in the West indies• It was ilintiOlt to be a disorder that would have its course, and, if interrupted, that it would be dan s" gerous.. It was then the custom, whey a negro was attacked with it, to separate him from the rest, and send him to some lonely place by. the sea-side, to bathe ; or into the mountains, to • some Piorision-gromul, or Plantain-walk, where , Ile could act as watchman, und.maintain himself, without any expenee to the estate, until he was ; then he was brought back to the Sugar- : work. " But this rarely happened. A cold, damp, Smoky hut, for his habitation ; snakes and lizards his companions ; crude, viscid fond, gild had water, his only tipport ; anti shunned as a leper; he usually sunk from the. laud of the living. " 'But some of these abandoned exiles lived, in spite of the common - law of nature, und'survived • general nintation of their muscles, ligaments, and osteology ; became also hideously white its the 4 woolly hair rood skin; with their limbs and, - bodies twisted and turned,• by the force of the distemper, lobo shocking grotesque figures, re . sembling woolly excrescences, or stumps of, trees ; or old Elgyptian figures, that seem as if they had . been mode of the ends of the human flings of the brutal (pm ;* which figures are, by some antiquaries, taken for gods,. and by others , for devils.. .16 their banishment, their huts often became the receptacles of robbers and fugitive negroes; %Mil, as they had power. nn to resist any who chose. 'to take shelter in their hovels, they had nothing toloseolnd Were forsaken by the world ; a tyger would hardly tnalest them'. Their desperate guests never did. • " The host of the hut, FIS he Frew more niis limpet', generally became more subtile ; this we .f,bserve in England; in crooked scrltillinlons per ; Rs if nature disliked people's being' both cunning and strong. • " Many of their wayward visitors were deeply skilled in magic, and what sve•call the black art, which they brought with ens front Attica ; and, fin return for their accommodation,- they usually -taught their landlOrd the mysteries of sigils,%pells, and.sorcery ; and illuminated hint in all the oc 7 telt science of Obi.* " These ugly, loathsome creatures thus became oracles of woods and ttnircytented places; and ,Were resorted to secretly by the wretched ; in Joint!, and by the utaltelous fur. wicked pur ,poses. " Obi, and gambling are tile oniy.instances have been able to dicover, among the natives of the negro laud in Africa, in which any effort :at combining ideas has ever been demonstrated. "The science of Obi is very extensive. • "'Obi, for the purposes of bewitching people, or consuming' them by lingering illness, is made of grave dirt, hair, teeth of sharks, and other crea ture's, blood, feathers; egg shells, images in wax, the hearts of birds, and some potent roots, weeds, anti bushes, of _which Fatropeatis are at. this time ignorant ; but which were knowo,..,,fur the saute purposes, to the ancients. , , " Certain mixtures of these ingredients are burnt, or buried very deep in the ground ; or bung up a chimney ; or laid under the threshold of the door of the party to suffer; with incantation longs, or curses, performed at Midnight, regard ...fug the espects of the 1310011. Th.: party, who Wants to do the mischief, is also sent to burying grounds, or some secret place, which spit its are aupposed to frequent, to invoke his dead parents to assist him in the curse. " A ,negro, who thinks himself betwitebed by Obi, will apply to an Obi-man, or Obi-woman, for Ore. “. These magicians will interrogate the patient, as to the part of the body most afflicted. This part they will torture with pinching, drawitti with gonrtis or calabashes, heatiug, dod pressing. When the ptient is nearly exhauster! With this Cough maglietising, Obi bringslott an old ;body nail, or a piece of hone, or an atis's tooth, or the jaw-hone of a rat, or a fragment of a (part bottle, from the part ; and the patient is well the next d4y. Thc most wrinkled and molt defeemed Obian magicians are most venerated. This Was the Case among the Egytiaus. and Chaldrans. genee,ll, Obi-inen are more sagacious than Obi-women in giving or taking aw - ny diseases, and in the application of poisons. ft is in their department to blind pigs:and poultry, and l a m e C10:1 le. " It, is the provilice of the Obi-women to dis pose of the passions. They sell foul winds for in constant ma - doers ; dreams and pliantisies for i ca l mi sy v e xation, • and pen in the heart, for perfitliontlove; and for the perturbed, impatient, * " 11113 Obi, or, as is pronounced in the English We-4 In dies; ()beak, hail its on like many ciistoms among the Africans, from the ancient Egyptians. 44 Oh is a demon, a spirit of divination and ntagi::. When, '4aul wanted to raise up Samuel }roux the deati, he said to his servants, Seek me is woman (eminent for Oh) that, bath a familiar spirit.' His servants replied to him, , 'There is a woman (mis tress in the. art of pki Lb it bath a fo tiliar spirit, at Erohir.' " When tilt \slid) Y.ridoirlantetsi Saul, lie wait, t; her. • Divine unto pie thy thy witchcraft Oh) by the Is siliar spi rit, and bring me him up whom I shalt same MAO the e. '--- Samuel, cbap. V. 7 and 8." and wretcted; at the tardv acts of time, to turn in prophetic fury to a futme page 64 the book of Fate, and amaze the ravished setise of the tempest tossed querent. '' Laws have been made in the West Indies to punish this Ohian practice with death ; but they have bad no effect. Laws, constructed in the West Indies, crick never suppress the effect of ideas, the origin of which is in the centre of Africa. " I am; the Ohi of, the famous negro rubber, Three-fingered Jack, the terror of Jamaica in 1780 and 1781. The Maroons who slew him brought it to tue. " His Obi consisted of the end of a goat's horn, filled with a compound of grave dirt, ashes, the blood of a black cat, and human fat ; all mixed into a kind of paste. A black cat's foot, a dried toad, a pig's tail, a slip of parchment of kid'a skin, with characters marked in bloOd on it, wire also in his Obian bag. " These, with a keen sabre, and two guns, like Robinson Crusoe, were all his Obi; with which, and his courage in descending into the plain's and plundering to snuply his ‘vants, and his skill in retreating into difficult faitnesses, coin imniding the only access to them, where none dared to follow them, he terrified the inhabitants, and set the civil power, and the neighbouring mi litia of that island, at defiance for two years. " He had neither accomplice nor associate.— There were a few runaway negroes in the woods near Mount Libanus, the place of his rvtevat ; but he had crossed their foreheads with some of the magic in his horn, and they could not betray Out he trusted no one. Ile scorned as sistance. He ascended above Spartacus. He rubbed alone ; fought all his battles alone ; and always killed his pursuers. " By his magic, he was not only the dread of the negroes, but there were many white people till() believed he was possessed of some superna , tura) famer. " In hot climates , . females marry very young ; and often with great disparity of age. 'Here Jack was the author of many troubles; for several matches proved unhappy. " Give a dug an ill name, and hang him." Clamours rose on ciamours. against the cruel sorcerer ; and every conjugal mishap was laid at t door of Jnek!sr malitio spell of tying the point o n the wedding day. '' God knows poor Jack had sins enonh of his own to carry, Without loading him with the sins of others. lie would , goner have made a Metlean cauldron for the whole island, than disturb one Lailyschappiness: He had many opportnnitics ; and, though he had a mortal hatred to white-men, he was never known to hurt a child, or oboe a Woman. " But even Jack himself was born to die. " Allured by the rewards offeted by Governor palling, in a Proclamation, dated the 12th of December, 1780, and by a. resolution which fol lowed }loose of , Assembly *, twune groeg, named Quashes, and Sala, of Scot's H a ll Maroon-Town, with a party of their towns men,. went search of him. Qoasbee, before be set out on the : expedition,. got him3elf christened, and changed - his name to James [John) Reeder. : 14 The expedition commenced ; -and the whole party had been creeping about in the woods for three weeks,. and blockading, as it were, the deepest recesses of the most inneeessible part•ot the island, where Jark, tar remote from all human sOciety, resided; but in vain. " Itceder and Sam, tired with his mode of war, resolved on proceeding in scald) of his retreat, and taking him, by storming•it, or perishing in the attempt. "They took with them a little buy, a prOper sphit, and a good shot,, and left the rest of the party: " These three, whom I well knew, had not been long .separated, before their conning eyei discovered, by impressions among the %reeds and bushes, that sonic person !Mist have lately been that way. " They softly followed these impressions, making not 'the least noise. Presently they dis covered *smoke. • " They •preriret: for war. They came upon Jack before he perceived them. Ile 'wits roasting plautaiiA by a little tire on the ground at the mouth of a cave. rd This was a scene, not where ordinary actors hsd a common part to play. " - Jack's logics- woe fierce and terrible. He told them be would kill them. " Reeder, instead of !booting Jack, replied, that bi 3 Obi had no po►ti•er to hurt him ; for he was christened ; and that Ids name was no longer Qiiast►ee. _ e _ _ _ " Jack knew Reedet ; and, as if paralyzed, he let his two guns remain on the ground, And took up only his cutlass. " These two had a desperate engagement se veral years before, in the woods; iu which con flict Jack lost the two fingers, which was the origin of his present name; but Jack then beat Reeder, and almost killed hint, with several others wko'asisied him, and they fled front Jack. • " To do Three-fingered Jack justice, hi would now have-kilied both Reeder and Sam ; for, at first, they were frightened at the sight of him, and the dreadful tc,ne of his voice; and well they might ; they had besides no retreat, anti were to grapple with the bravest and strongest man in the world. - " But Jack was cowed , for be had prophesied, that white Obi would get the better of him and, from experience, he knew the charm would lose none of its strength in the hands of Reeder. " Without fill her paricy, Jack, with Isis cutlass t tr House of Aaseu►bi,)', 49th December, 1780. " Resolved, That over and above the reward of one hun dred.pounds-oliered by his Alajesly's Proclamation, fur taking or Lilting the rehelliuus aegru called Three-angered Jack, the further reward of VI eedom shall be given to any slave thatt shall take or kill the said Three-fingered Jack, and that the House will wake good the calm: ut such blare to the pro prietor thereof. And if any one of his accomplices will:kill the said Threc-fingereddack, and bring in his brad and hand wanting the Angers, such accomplice shall be ,entitled to hi 6 free Pardon, and ihis_ Freedom as alne, upon due proof being made of their being the head and hand of the said Tiirce-fingered jack. iiy the House, " SAMUEL HOWELL, Cl. ASSM" in his hand, ihTCW himself down a precipice at the hack of the cave. " Reeder's gnu missed fire. Sam shot him in the shoulder. Iteedel. anE,lglish never looked, but, with his cutlass in his baud, plunged headlong down after Jack. The descent was about thirty yards, and almost perßendienkr. 'Both of theta had preserved their cutlasses in the fall. '' Here Was the stage, on .whiclt two of the stoutest hearts that , were ever hooped with ribs began -their bloody struggle. " The little boy, who was ordered to keep back, out of harm's way, now reached the top of the precipice, and, during the tight, shot Jack in the belly. " Sam was crafty, and coolly took a round about way to get to the field of action. When he arrived at the spot where it began, Jack and Reeder had closed, and tumbled together down an other precipice, on the side of the mountain, in which fall they both lost their weapons. " Sam descended after them, who also lost his cutlass among the trees anti bushes in getting clown. " When he came to them, though i bout weapons, •they were 'not idle ; and, luckily for Reeder, Jack's wounds were deep and tlcapeume, and he was in great agony. " Sam came up just time enough to sarelti.eder, for Jack had caught him by the throat, with -his giuto's grasp. !leerier then was, with his right hand almost cut off, hn.l Jack streaming with blood' from his shoulder anti belly ; both covered with gore and gashes. " In this state Sato was umpire, and decided the fate of the battle. lie knocked Jack down with a piece of a rock. " When the lion fell, the two titers got upon hint, and beat his, brains out with stones.- " The little boy soon alter found his' way to them, He hod a ctulass, with which they cut off Jack's head and three-fingered hand, and took them in triumph to Moraot-Bay. " There they put, their trophies into a pail of rum ; and, followed by a vast enticoarsa of ue groca, itow no longer afraid of Jack's Old, they carried them to .Kingsion, and Spanish-Town'; and claimed the reward of the King's Proclama tion, and the Bouse.of AF.sembly,`• THE CONSPIRACIES. M AN y s ips.iloUse...-.Yeliter4y seven persons were, by °icier of the .LORD MAYOR, brought to the justice-r•mm, in order to state the circttm stances under which they were tried at the Old Bailey for the offence of uttering base coin in Oc tober, 1815. It wilLbe rernmbered that the ranttD MAYOR took the depositions of IS person< in Novgate on Sunday last, end that they hatt.all, pgreed in as scrtin.z, that a Jew-boy named Soionuons, alias Bubblefout, bad, in concert with an otb:•er, snared them into a-crime in which they bud no moral participation.: The discharged -convicts are nametl ,lilakeney, Elizabeth Coimar, Priest, Corson, Orcen, ICURtikY. and Wilson, and, as will be , N eer ice our paper of Tuesday last, are some of tha,'e who were visited by the Chief Magi,trate and Mt. floWer. - 'fits followin4 an Incur-Ate nee t mut of what ()centred there was no testimony upon oath The first person questioned was Blekency, Wits merely stated that he had been induced to com mit the offence for which he had nOergotte the sentence of the law by a Jew boy, xvhose feet were tinned in, that he was wholly ignorant of the guilt of that its which he had engaged, and that iris ocettintance with Bubblefoot commenceilsvith what be thonght an act sit great humanity.-- rm,bbl e f our , a s he supposed, perceived that lie was hmigry, and gave him a 3s. , piece to satisfy his appetite. The 1401 ID IIATOR..-.7." Was not your wife c h a rged with an offence of this description some time ago ?" 111akeney.—" Never, my,,Lord ; *he is now in the Conquer for another offence. . My children were starving iu consequence of my not being able to help them, anti my Wife,sto c a .picec of cheese to keep the life in them. She was never held by the law before." Elizabeth' Connor, , who was apprehended in company with lilakeney, said she was a fish-wa- Mon. She had never, to-her knowledge, passed bad money before she met the Jew boy, wbo fitt. eel her for a year's imprisonment. The Loan Ala on.--- When, the suspended' officer apprehended you for passing bad money, was the Jew-boy in the room ?" Connor,:--" He - ,vas, my Lind." Blakeney here stated, that. the Jew-boy told him that the suspended officer had given hint the bad money, wilh directions as to its application. liriett.---“ 1 ant a Spitalficids weaver : work was bud with me this time twelvemonth, and I went down to the water-side to look for a job : while I was looking about, willing to pot my hand to any thing,: it Jew-hay, nerreed . Sulomons, cause up and said he pitied .my condition. The boy was ,very much deformed about the feet, and was se.; companied by another Jew, also named Solo mons, as I afterwards learned, who had no such defee.t. The Ilubblefoot asked me whether would quench-any thirst : as I was both hungry and thirsty I did not refuse : we went into a pub lie-house and had twopints of beer, for which Ouh blefoot paid with, I believe, good money. After having done so, he seemed very anxious to know where I lived i I told him, anti we went down London kVall together. lie put into my hand a three-shilling piece, and desired me to go into a baker's shop to purchase some bread. The baker hod no breod, The .resit boy then sent me into a tobaceonist'ssshop in Fore street, but the three.; shilling ,piece was refused. I *aid I should oiler nu more money of dolt kind, for it was of no use. He gsve ttte '!tether, assisting - me drat no one conld object to it, and at the some moment eip , - peda three-shilling piece into my pocket. I went this new batch of money into a tripe shop, but was sent -out as I went in, the complaint against the' smoney-still prevailing. I swore that I would try it no more, but Ituhbletoot pressed inc very herd, awl gave me-twopence halfpenny. I once more tried at a toliseconist'a shop in Long lane, but the moment I offered-the money that bad been refused, the suspended officer came into the :1!!! shop, and said, that I had been smashing. took the money from me, and locked me np•", Corson, Russian, was the next. state ment was AS 6 . .110:VS wi.as ly in.; about Tower hdi in October last, nut! inquiring for ra ship. My distress was great. The Jew Lvov, named SOW. mans, came Up to me, and after 50111 C CODVCISI• don. said he would assist me. I had seen hint s-everatinies_before on Tower-hill, but never lr.td any communication with him until that moment. • You look AS if you were h u ngry,' said he . I said it erns the case, and accepted his incitatiouta eat anti drink. - He gave me a twopenny loaf Sad a pint of beer, and then having told ine that hell ( ' a good job for mc, bronght sac to East Smiddletd, and directed ine to purchase some tobacco there, giving me at the same time a three -shilling piece. 1 Went into a shop, and while I was offering the money, the suspended ofeer came in and chargld me with having attempted to pass bad mon* ' . 1 4 said the Jew boy bad given it to me, and pointe‘' at Bubbiefoot who was walking o n the other dee of the street. ''The officer took the 3s. piece frail me, and' went over to the 'Jew boy, to whoa' he spoke for.sume time. The latter soon retur ned ' -anti said to mc, ". Don't mind the money. ra give yin more." The suspended officer did lot take me at that moment. The Jew boy then seat me boo a cheese-shop, the proprietor of 01°' upon looking at the 'Money offered him, whic h Wki..as another 3s. piece, told me that if I tried, '" 11 more tit that kind, I'd go to prison. vponle3e ing the shop, I. threw the bad money into street : the JewlStly picked it up , and toilde go into a public-house, where besaw t he sof° ; ed officer, with whom be talked a huh. ' f !" which Bilbblefuot went . a wav, a nd the o fficer of t •ed me, swore 1 bad been p as sing bad alone); I irons on my hands, and took m e to Fist". , 40 ,1 (green, native of Nova Scotia, Said, hitbeen 4,, hmilar art t those t ? y s h a e l al w ready' y b(I detailed. under ce waS met on the Coston-boa by the elder Solomons,t, who sent him iota sc ot ral shops to purchase bread, divest', &o. % be which be stieeettled. except in the hit, wh er a . was taken by Johnson, the man uho - tier sentence. citeionsianeet Wilson was not asked any questioos• t • rite subscriP':. The LORD MAl:onliopedLliJL the which was so liberallV raised for the threellll4: men would have the e ffect o f establidtine. 0114; vantage of the same kind for the seven di:charge; ""icts. There were,, he said, eleven ( 0e je Arlin were now undergoing the sentellcc ,I8"r iu NetV'gittr r , torwhom he should ittint o 14 ifiroSede, with Govern m e n t. tie ordered above-named pt&rsi,n, shout! be taken if,to :he of Teague, at the Cnittpter, until iome lation was made for their comfort, alld 1 1 7 1 d it' o ce. tlnti-iLey,4lJould have beer Anil aft ertr,a It is t he practice to require, 'iron e It 'l l , i s prisoner, from Ne‘iware, their reen:.,Tiixriai comliderable stun. The Lord Mayor cl tgr ' SLcurity in the pre*ent case' to be. tnerelF Oft' POLICE INTELLIGF.a. • E r L o u N N i G c ' s Messrs. . 1 : c 17: : ::: 1 5 4 7 ' E t Li; Clerk. ‘VeStsoiliver, wit% bro":4 l ' t t ' ' i►r the custody of 3. W.S n ' itli, chatleed "': 1 C;al tt "t hi\ ;:ret tc : i tt i : a letter 4, Cibirksoli considered. letter not u iI Y t i lt l c :e t a e t t l x e n n , 4 it e le t ;:d fi t g b h :t t t aliedt'tt-'eeliit the ► °lSt3 sSr4;'l.lC;ft''''' prisoner was 113 COLISC4IIteIiCe bail, hiutielf in 2001 , an d two stireti:!3 " This. informAtion not having k"" twt it having a third person, As is generally tb' colc' tle kaving been (nada by Mr. MI I.on WaS nOt Ordered LO fiat! bail, i$ ge nt" casein duels. Wa . S brought up alivrros-oA nrw.s. . 30 ,64 ATXEMPT TO INTL; Rosa.-- AU 1 r• 4 Ord CoUtti„ . „ill 0 0 , nlmed , chargetl with at tittpl ing't 0 ttitirder Iticreto .Lillywhite. a patrole on the Foundling, es ( % 0 from the watch -house. -' 10 0 It appeared . that about half past ten P ecos ffeceding night, the prisoner, in gui:l - It l ' f ,i s ep Brunswick-square , IV' s shouting,,-awl 1'1',49 10 the annoyance of -inhdhitants, %%lie n "'oil' Baxter, the' .c•telchntat), came tip to hint a nd re'l .st d ,s 1 . 11 . 1 ; 11 with 111111 011 his behaviour, 411 1(3 l' tl ",, L „cr , "7. to desist and go along in a peaceJhl" ~I " . 3' ,c t ;ei was then. going i 't i v . t tell he no sonnet' said thin' the prisoner 10`.0(ter ini "woo And began to tr.ouple on 11 0 1%,.i.t0 his feet, whet) fortunately the cortiltl' ll , 3"r :4 d' c means of saving hit life. Lillywhite aw l ..ilo es his rounds, artived, tint' " , 'r succeeded, with the.assitatice of Other wAt',:,riog Wilful h the noise attracted to the srt. i n 6e , 0 0' .!e.prisoner, and conveying him to th e i , . e ,,,:tlfr house. Several respectable liarsous wh' , ^ l ' l o 'l prisoner 'stated, th At h e wit , i tt a deraigelt.oo, of mind. , However, the charge beil4 II ": ras h the INt)gi.itrates, To prevent further dattg c '',,i big t»itted the pritones for trial, A11(1 00 1 ' 1 C 1 de Irie'ids to attentl'thcn, to &foie hii WO". rangy-10,w. •In Sackrilk-stree riccadil 3. , on1 i e • , , ,i), ,,, Ilite ml i . it Ludy ~t th ' c 'Little! Eroiine, ct .E.. yr, Ow" azughter. o ~t ,ff. f ' ' 01 MAR,ltif:i ) . ' t 1 1 On ToTs.i.htv !ast, at i'flittam, A. .ti. Grorect F; 5 5 0 ,, I' ' • eni."lt lit to Nidi-y.,•settitt.trieuxbier ofiantes 11 004 fol . ,r ( .l ) . , :, r yfi ri s d r r, l.v a i t::. Mn' .• - le- b o ‘ rre z . .t: c h l it tr i c:' . , , t: l i . e t j u it rr 'it t er rl :l : : : :l l ::: r : i tirorge-street, tionover..iptetre• t .t ~,s, to . tbs. ~ street, 1 1 4rttoin-stra re. , . t Aihss ,.. , - ,. itis ~. On the >zed-2d fit Cafttlf MAIO., 114"le`,1 J.lbl'l,l4ii tsq. yott tig,r, of Berketlintic owl Fiattiv',,,, is 3 :„ 1 ,01 00 ' Coo roly of Saar, h.. Eliatt,'• oiily clAttAtiter 4.1 ..,....-- Esq. of Netiterlaw. 'CM the Std Octoher..l;thti,l:lCatheritie, 0,1°1'314 eliJO ltil of the tate Jamrs firsk:nr, Eml. o f Giokstwiat.. I:s4 , Vor f On Wrtinvoiay agrtl `O Ahrlhaw Iti""`" eletk fs t . 1 ' -' '' ' . . pro- f . o. . anws, Ciert.eo,ren. :+tr 4, • S " t " dwYt aged 7:i, at tart honor ill licoolPter" ,0 4 0 ,. t ,,, widow of the rate Dr. lirtikr, ot re Vak. r'" '.,,t g, " 1 ' Oil Th • . ""daY, I+l Vcoctoore-,trrrt, Caveadi,:)."i , , Niolso, of Lnusdowne Creicent, Dath. l.O '' I 4:'-'111:21'.:ocdul.: Eaitql.VnlthAtottow, lo th.: est , b i :.::11::,,, Al South fornheth* on Thorstiol, In dl • '''' ' the tter. Nethanirl Fat h. _~„-. LON) 4)N • Pruned J • • J. IL C.II:SCAIW-,. :so' iii.6"Z i;anti imlitishrii ivy tV ..1. 1 4 A i v crt At the Sj•bitt . Sttlftil ; " awns, Orders, L etter s,&e. Cpos t- p aid) toust bg 3"°';s