The Massachusetts spy, and Worcester County advertiser. [volume] ([Worcester, Mass.]) 1825-1831, 1831-04-06
From tho N. Y. Journal of Commerce.

From the NJ Y. Journal of Commerce.
! GIBBS, THE PIRATE. The confessions of this
wretched being, ore OF the Pirates OF the Brig
Vineyard, now on the confines Of eternity, to
one of the Police Magistrates, unveii 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 rectes
the horrible catalogue. He has been familiar
with scenes of blood and carnage, even from
his boyhood, and an active participation in the
commission Of crimes that are stamped with
the most shocking barbarity The following
brief sketch of his life may be relied on as au
thentic, so far as it goes.
When but about Is years Of age, he was
sailor on board the sloop of war Hornet, and
was in the action when she captured the Brit
ish soop of war Peacock, off the coast of Per-
nambuco Upon the return of the Hornet to
the United States, he followed 4he gallant Capt.
Lawrence to the Chesapeake, and became a
prisoner of war, after the melancholy result of
her encounter with the Shannon. After his
exchange, he returned 10 Boston, where haV-
! ing determined to abandon the sea, he establish
ed himself in the grocery business, with capt.
/ tai 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 unsuccessful, and he resolved
| again to try the sea for subsistence. With
! hundred dollars in his pocket, the remnant oil
his property, he embarked in the ship John, for
Buenos Avres, and his means being exhausted
soon after his arrival there he entered on
/ board Buenos Ayrean privateer, and sailed on
! cruise A quarrel between the officers ard
I crew, in regard to the division of prize money,
| led eventually to a mutiny ana the mutineers
I gaming the ascendency, took possession of the
vessel, landed the officers somewhere on the
! coast of Florida, and steered for the West In
dies yth hearts resolved to make ;hsE tST
| which they committed will be fully developed
when the confessions of Gibbs are made pub.
| lie. We only know that he was cO-Operator
in the capture of nearly twenty vessels, and in
the murder Of nearly fOur hundred human be-
| ings.
On one occasion they captured Dutch ship
bound from Curacao to Liverpool, with valu-
able cargo, and company of thirty souls in
GLIDING the crew. All were put to death with
the exception of young lady about II, who
though spared, compelled to witness the
heart-rendng spectacle of the butchery of her
father and mother, before her eyes. They
kept her on board for some time, and when it
was determined TO proceed to Havana, con-
sultation 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 administered
! to her, and she soon shared the fate of her pa
rents. Gibbs declares that of all the murders
in which he has participated, no one has har-
rowcd his soul with SO much remorse as the
recollectons of the cold booded destruction Of
this interesting and accomplished female. He
AYERS that he made vigorous effort to rescue
! her, but that he was overawed by the rest of
/ his companions, who would listen to no mercy.
! On another occasion, an American ship, the
| Caroline, was captured by Two of the piratlcal
vessels, and run ashore of Cape Antonio, They
were busily engaged in landing the cargo,
when the United States brig Enterprise hove
in sight, and sent her barges to attack them.
! The pirates defended themselves for some time
behind a small gun battery, which they had
erected but in the end were forced TO abandon
their own vessels and the prize, and fly for safe.
ty to the mountains
The barque Transit, an American vessel,
was also captured by them, and the whole of
her crew destroyed.
Havana was the general resort of the pirates,
to dispose of their booty. There they sauntered
about without apprehension, and even lodged
at the same houses with many of the Ansori-
can officers who were sent out to destroy them,
He states that he was acquainted with many OF
the officers, and was apprsed of all their intend
ed movements, before they left the harbor.
After their complete expulsion from those
seas, we are unadyised of the course of Gibbs
until he sailed some time during the last spring
for Gbralter, and thence 10 Algiers, in the
hope of getting on board some of the Barbary
corsairs. The blockade of the harbor by the
French feet prevented the accomplishment of
his purpose, and he returned by the way of
Marseilles to Boston. He embarked thence
for New Orleans, where he shipped as one Of
the crew of the brig Vineyard