Herald of the times. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1830-1846, 1831-04-06
From the New-Yo ork Journal Of Commerce.

ol inns Wretched being, now on inc con-
fines Of eternity, to one of the Police
Mag gistratcs, unvcil a career of long and
desperate crimes; and they bring the
! varying torments of his partially awaken
/ ed conscience into an existence that is
almost visible upon his agitated brow
while he recites the horrible catalogue.
| He has been familiar with the scenes of
blood and carnage, even from his boy
hood, and an active participator in the
commission of crimes that are stamped
with the most shocking barbarity. We
have been unable to obtain the entire
confession which he has made, but the
following sketch of his life may be relied
on as authentic, SO far as it goes.
When but ID years Of age, he was
sailor on board the sloop of war Hornet,
and was i'll the action when she captured
the British sloop of war Peacock, off the
coast of Pernambuco. Upon the return
OF the Hornet to the United States, he
followed the gallant Capt Lawrence to
the Chesapeake, and became prisoner
OF war, after the melancholy result Of
his encounter with the Shannon. He
states that previous to the engagement,
the crew of the Chesapeake were almost
in Il state Of mutiny growing out of the
non-Payment of their prize money, and
that the address of Capt. Lawrence was
received by them with coolncss and
murmurs. After his exchange, he re-
turned to Boston, where having deter
mined to abandon the sea, he establish
ed himself in the grocery business, with
u capital of one thousand dollars, which
he procured from his friends in Rhode
Island. How long he continued in that
business we know not, but in the end it
proved unsucce essful, and he resolved a.
gain to try the sea for u subsistence.
With a hundred dollars in his pocket,
the remnant of his property, ho embark
cd in the ship John, for Buenos Ayres,
and his means being exhausted soon at
ter his arrival there, he entered on board
Bucnos Ayres privatecr, and sailed on
cruizc. A quarrel between the Off
GERS and crew in regard to the division
of prize money, led eventually to a mutt
ny; and the mutneers gained the ascen-
dancy, took possession of the vessel, Ian
ded the officers some where on the coast
of Florida, and steercd for the West In
dies, with hearts resolved to make their
fortunes, at all hazards. The horrible
atrocities which they committed will be
fully developed when the confessions Of
Gibbs are made public only know
that he was co-operator in the capture
of nearly twenty vessels, and in THE MUIR
DER OF NEARLY FOUR HUNDRED HUMAN
BEINGS.
On one occasion they captured Dutch
ship, bound from Curacao to Liverpool,
with valuable cargo, and company Of
thirty souls, including the crew. All
were put to death, with the exception of
a young lady about II, who, though
spared, was compelled to witness the
heart-rcndring spectacle Of the butch
cry of her father and mother, before her
eyes. They kept her on board for some
time, and when it was determined to pro-
ceed to Havana, a consultation was held
to decide whether it would be safe to
give her liberty upon their arrival. The
majority were apprehensive that she might
betray them, and it was therefore resolv-
ed that she must die.-Poison was ad-
mnlstered to her, and she soon shared
the fate of her parents. Gibbs declares
that OF all the murders in which he has
participated, no one has narrowed his
soul with so much remorse as the recol-
lection of the cold-bloodcd destruction Of
this interesting and accomplished female
lie AYERS that he made vigorous effort
to rescue her, but that he was overawcd
by the rest of his comrades, who would
listen to no mercy.
On another occasion, an American
ship, the Caroline, was captured by two
of the piratical vessels, and run ashore
off Cape Antonio. They were busily
engaged in landing the cargo when tho
Y. 3. brig Enterprise hove in sight, and
sent her barges to attack thcm.--The
pirates defended themselves for some
time behind a small 4 gun battery, which
they had erected, but in the end were
forced to abandon their own vessels s.
the prize, and to fly for safety to the noun
tains. This account as given by Gibbs,
may be true, though we have no distinct
recolle elton of such circumstance. We
find, however by recurrence to our
files, that piratical sloop and schooner
were destroyed by the British sloop of
war lcarus, near Havana, in the sum-
mer of 1924, under similar circumstances,
and that most of the pirates, when they
were attacked by her barges, made to
the shore and fled to the woods. The
sloop of war found there twelve vessels
which had been burnt to the waters edge,
and it was satisfactorily asccrtained that
their creu's 0,nounied Ia one b,ud,,ed and