The Columbian informer, or, Cheshire journal — Keene, N.H., 1794-09-09 00:00:00, page 1

rs SUMMER! of the Evidence produced be
fore a Committee oftbe Hou, of Commons,
relating to 'be SLAVE TRADE.
(Concluded from our left.)
HE witnesses having described the
country, the amiable manners es the in
habitants of the inland parts, their til.
lainous difpofitiou, where corrupted by us
on the the coast, and the nature of the de
predations carried on by us and oar emit-'
faries ; we are brought to the period when
these unfortunate people are ftrwed on
board our vefTels, which are to be consid
ered as floating jails ; and are hovering
sometimes near a year upon the coast,
while the inhabitants are procured in the
various ways before deferibeds Mr. New
ton, by being nitrided to day only four
months on the coast, was obliged to fail
with !efs than half the usual number.—
Captain Knox acknowledges he was seven
months ; and Captain Fraser was nine
months, on the coast, procuring their car
goes. What that car^o (hall be has been
ascertained by the legislature of this coun
try ; who, having, with great propriety,
coafalted fame inhabitants of Liverpool
and Bristol on the fobjed ; his most Gra
cious Majesty, by and with the advice of
the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and
Commons in Parliament assembled, enac
ted, That three times the number of inno
cent Africans (hould be flowed on board
the Liverpool and Bristol (hips, that are
allowed by this government, in veffeli
of the fame tonnage employed to convey
the miscreants, whom this country is con
tinually vomiting forth, to Botany Biy.
The room these unhappy beings are al
leged by our legislature, appears, on a
pretty accurate calculation, to be about
the proportion of 400 perfone in a space of
nineteen feet each way: And is for a
grown person, sixteen inches each in;
width ; two feet seven inches in height,
and five feet eleven inches in length : Or,l
as Mr. Falconbridge properly describes
it, not so much room as a man has in his
coffin. Captain Knox admits, that they
sometimes had not room to lie on their
backs. It also appears, that if they are
the lead reluctant in thus packing them
selves, they are expedited bythe applica
tion of the cat. In this fixation and
space, th?y are confined (the men fettered
in pairs) excepting about eight hours in
the day, when if the weather is fine, they
are brought on deck ; and, chains being
run through their fetters, they are fatten
ed to the deck. In this state Mr. Falcon
bridge tel's us they are flogged with a cat
to make them jump for exercise. This
the Hive captains choose to term dancing :
And Mr. Claxton informs us, the parts to
which the (hackles are fattened, are often
so excoriated as to produce many dreadful;
complaints. Dr. Trotter tells us, he hast
Teen them when confined below, drawing!
their breath like animals expiring in thel
exhausted receiver of an air pump ; and|
heard them cry out, We are dying, me are
dying ! He has fern many of them in a dy
ing Rate from fuffbeation, and has recov
ered some by jnftantly bringing them on
deck ; but others have been irrecoverably
loft. Mr. Falconbridge has known them
to go down apparently in health, and
found them dead next morning. He op
ened one of them to know with certainty
the cause of his death ; and from the ap
pearance of the parts, he was fatisfied
that it was from fuffocation. He fays,
that once, on going down, he found twen
ty had fainted, or were fainting : He got
them instantly hauled on deck, notwith
standing which,'two Or three of them di
p ed ; and though he was down only fifteen
minutes, he became so ill, that he could
not get op without help ; and never was
below many minutes together, but his
shin was as wet, as ifdipt in water. He
Ufa fay^that as the flares, whether well or
[No. 24+ es Vol. ll.]
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THE
Columbian Informer;
Or, C HESHI RE JOURNAL.
PRINTED and PUBLISHED by HENRr BLAKE, ^ CO. in K.EE NE, New-Hampshire.
We (hall then hardly be surprised when
told by Dr. Trotter, that they (hew signs
of extreme distress and difpair, as well
from a feeling of their situation, as their
regret at being torn from their friends,
their relations, and their native land ! that
they make a melancholy noise, expressive
of extreme anguiSh ; and, once enquir
ing into the cause, when it appeared to be
extremely poignant, he found that a female
had been dreaming (he was happ, in the
midftof her family and friends: but, a
waking, found hcrfelf in this dreadful fitu
atioo. Nay, it appears that though every
precaution be taken to prevent their throw
ing themselves overboard, yet they fame
times effed it. Mr. Morley has known
the food held in their mouths till they were
almost strangled. Mr. Falconbridge men
tidns many infiances of their refuting both
food and medicine, because they wished to
die ; and a female being a(ked what (he
wanted, replied, with a firm tone," Only
to die." Capt. Wilfop fays, that as death
approaches, they smile at their tormentors,
and exult that the period arrives when they
(hall be no longer in our power. Dr.
Trotter, Mr. Claxton, Mr. Ellison, and
Capt. Hall describe them as refolutelyfre
fufing sustenance, and starving themselves
to death to avoid our tortures.
ill, always lie on the bare planks, the mo
tion of rhe (hip rubs the flelh from the
prominent parts of the body, and leaves
the bones bare : And when the flares have
the flux, which is frequently the cafe,from
the treatment they receive the whole place
becomes covered with blood, and mucus,
like a slaughterhouse : And as jbey are
fettered& wedged cltfe together,the utmost
disorder srifes from their endeavors to get
to the three or four tubs placed anrong
them to relieve nature ; which disorder is
(till further increased, by the healthy be
ing not urfrequeatl, chained to thedifea
fed, the dying, or the dead. We (hall
then find little difficulty incredidig his
affertian, That no situation can be con
ceived so dreadfully difgußing; or Mr.
Ellison's, that the fleam from their con
fined bodies below,comes up thro' the grat
ings likea furnace. Mr. Morley has seen
them wallowing in their bleed and excre
ment : And Frazer, a slave captain, ac
knowledged to the House, that it was a
diluted point amongst their refpe&able
fraternity, whether it was m)ft injurious
to the health of the (laves thus to be left
wallowing in their filth, or to render it
damp between decks by walhing the filth
away.
In such a situation, and in the torrid
zone, insatiable must be the thirst. But,
as the water is bulky flowage, the holds
cannot contain a moderate quantity for.
such numbers of Haves. Hence, though
the convicts for Botany Bdy are watered at
the rate of mo quarts per da, ; yet Capt.
Knox admits the allowances for slaves to
be only /quo,or occasionally three half pints.
Their food, Mr. Falconb idge tells as,
is chiefly yams, horse beans, and rice ; 1
and that compulsion was retorted to
in all the vessels he was in, to force them
to take that food.
These unhappy victims of our avarice
have Scarce any limitation to their im
prisonment on board our (hips ; as they
are frequently disposed of with great diffi
culty. Capt. Frazer rrvns, that after tra
versing the Atlantic, from Angola to Ca
rolina, disappointed of a market, he was
forced to return to the Weft-Indies in a
diftrtffed condition, with the negroes on
board. In such fituation# a circumstance
Sometimes occurs, which, from its having
obtained a cant appellation, we presume
not to be very unfrequent. It is called
^ walking the plank I" That is# when
the miserable pittance of water allot
ted to the Haves is nearly exhausted/ or
supposed te be so; the negroes are ordered
terjump overboard ; & no ordersgiven them
by us is ever obeyed with less rdaaance ;
TUESDAY, September , 1794.
for they rejoice even thus to escape the ac
: cursed hands of the Europeans.
'1 As those who are in possession of complete
• I evidence of the loss of lives from these voy
- 11 ages perfifl in witholding that evidence from
1 the public, It mutt be inferred that the real
1 loss exceeds the estimates which have been
} given to the public. Capt. Wilson has a
'veraged the four vessels which he failed;
»and found the loss to be 586 out of 2206,
:during the voyage ; besides zao who di
ed toon after landing; These refufe slaves
Mr. Falconbridge has known to be fold
for five dollars each. Mr. Towne, for a
guinea, and Mr. Ross, as low as a Angle
dollar. A human being not only fold, but
fold for aJingle dollar ! General Tottenham
has seen refufe Haves left in a yard to die ;
and tome of them lived th.ee days in that
condition, nobody giving them any thing
:o eat or drink. Mr. Rots has known ma
ny of them carried to the vendue matter,
from the Blips in the agonies of death ;
and his known instances of their expiring
in his piezza. The healthy Haves and
those whose disorders can be concealed by
mercurial ointment; or whole fluxes can
be Hopped for the day of sale, by reftrin
gent medicines, are generally fold by
Scramble : When the decks being darkned
by fails, on a Signal being given, the
purchasers ruth in, seizing and marking
their purchases with a difurdbr and impe
. taufity so terrific, that the negroes if not
well secured, have been known to jump
into che-fca.- Mr. Newton fays, that in
none of the sales he few was there any care
taken th prevent relation# being parted.—
They were federated, he adds, as sheep
and Muths are by batchers.
The nature of the African Slave Tride
being now ascertained, the evidence on the
question of its Abolition is fully closed.—
For had the inhabitants of Africa been for-
ced from their native land, to partake of
the luxuries inffead of the tortures of the
Weft-Indies ; yet the question recurs, On
what principle of the law of nature, or of
nations, we compel them to partake cf ei
ther ? Let us not be diverted from an in
vestigation cf a simple queftion,by a desul
tory enquiry. The Weil-Indies Slavery
is a continuation and Aggravation of an
original offence : In defence of which so
far from any thing having been proved,
nothing has been alledged. Dare the
villain who has stolen and murdered the pa
rent, insult us by deriving from thence a
property in the children ? Dare we throw
aside all Semblance of common justice, by
occasioning the Seizure of the parent and
the slavery of the offspring, for Supplying
us with a luxury ? And let a question be
repeated, which no one has attempted to
answer. By obat right cate me purchaf
that sugar to which the teller can have ne right
and thereby encourage him to continue the in
jury and aggravate his crimes >
SURELY, the cup of life is Sufficiently
bitter, without irtfufing unnecessary
gall. The halcyon days of the Sons of
prosperity are often darkned with the
glooms of d^fpondeacy. Who then can
avoid execrating the wretch, who noifons
enjoyment with the bane of Scandal ! Much
of the' iappinefs of ever, good man con
sists in the confcioufcefs of having deferred,
Maids, matrons, nay, thefcrets of tbegrave,
This viperous funder enters.
SHAKESPEARE.
No, 'tis slander,
WboJi edge is far, er than the fusord ; mbofe
tongue
Outroenoms allthe worms of nile ; whole breath
Rides on the feedmg winds, doth belie
All corners of the world ; dings, queens, dad
dates,
The S AUNTEkER. No. VIII.
Frgm the Farmer's Weekly Mufeum<
• The Greek word Didbofos, taflafl
thDevil, literally, th Slanderer;
Miss Gabble can never believe those
malicious Hories about Miss Airy; or that
Squire Sparkifh was seen so late at night,
or rather so early in the morning; defeeu
ding by a rope ladder from Miss Airy's
window, “ It is true;" whispers (he to Mid
Credulous, who set nigh her, " a person
of veracity told me (be saw him, but 1 ne
ver can believe such a thing of Miss Airy."
Now the whole of this plauflble Hory is a
fallhood of Miss Gabble's invention ; for
Squire Sparkilh was at Newyork, more
than an hundred miles diflant, at the very
time that Miss Gabble's informer saw him
at miss Airy's window. But ver, few are
acquainted, with that eircumftance, and
Miss Airy's reputation is in danger of be
ing blasted, though the Saunterer dare af
firm that there is note mote aimable and
virtuous young lady in the neighbour hoed.
Reputatioh is dekret than property or
even life. The thief, the robber, the mid
night assassin, are innocent compared with
the slanderer. His bread must be the feat
of every diffocial pillion. Pride; envy;
cowardice & cruelty are feme of the lead
ing traits in his character. Let the mir
rour of refleaion present him the true im
age of his mental deformity, and he mart
be petrified with remorse and horror.—-
The ancients held this vice in abhorrence,
the Greeks could find no epithet more pro
per for the prince of darkness than 66 the
Slanderer."'
Now the Saunterer would by no means
intimate that this horrible epithet Slander
er, chosen by pious men of old to designate
the charzaer of '' the very roil ONE him
felf," can with the feaft Ihadow of justice
be applied to any Os the Ladies; or that
any of the Fair Daughters of Columbia,ex
cept tlie forefaid Miss Gabble,ever had the
least inclination to invent, or promulgate
a report; that might have a tendency to
injure any person's reputation. G.
How many aimabltechtraders have fal
len vi&im# to a fly insinuation, which had
not the least foundation in reality I An
artful ffirug, nod, wink, or wbifper, with
an appearance of reserve, and a seeming
relevance to disclose particulars, is often
Sufficient to blast the faireft reputation.
There is a clafi of these wretches, who
always wear the mafic of diffimulauon.—
They pretend the sincerest concern for your
welfare, but under the specious mantle of
friendfhip conceal the murderous poignard
of an ,Baffin:
the arrows of feandal, blinded, by revenge.
Snatch what they suppose to be the rod of
justice, and in their turn endeavour to chas
tise the aggressors. Mankind are much
more prone to do as they are done by, than
to do as they would be done by.. Instead
of making " innocence a defence, and " 4.
voiding evin the appearance cf evil," they
tell you that, " to turn about is fair play,
and practically fay, " we will requite evil
for evil." Thus the slanderer not only
ruins the reputation of his neighbour, but
often, by provoking to retaliation debafea
his morals, and is instrumental in his be
coming vitiated and abandoned as himfelf.
It would be a great revolution in favour
cf human happiness if these fens of malice
were treated with Silent contempt; if those
whom they attempt to injure would pay no
other attention to such wretches, than to re
gard them with a look of " ineffable dis
dain." But too many, when wounded by
and acquired, the friendship of his ac
quaintance. Deprived of this confeiouf
nefs, he becomes depraved and vicious ;
finks in indolence, or is roofed to a&ion,
only by the desire of gratifying felfifh and
malevolent passions. The Tenderer des
troys all confidence in friend(hip, kindles
the flame of discord; and makes society on
earth referable that of the infernal#.
[Whole, No. 76;]
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