Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1853-10-05

may Iancy IOr ouTscl'00 OAO HOAAoA "a 0
scene. We may imagine some one or
more of the victims awaking under the i'll
directed knife-awaking to vain struggle
-unkindly alarming those into conscious
ness who had no strength for conflict. Per-
haps, a mother may have found strength to
rise to her knees, imploring mercy for the
dear child of her heart and hope, and may
have been suffered sufficiently long to see
its death struggle, its wild contortions, in
the grasp of the unrelenting assassin. Art
may not describe such a scene truly, as i'm
agination can hardly conceive it. They
perished, one and all that little family of
emigrants and the murderers grouped a.
round the treasures which had damned
their hearts into the worst hell of covetous-
ness and crime, were now busted in the di-
vision of their bloody spoils. How they
settled this matter among themselves .
what division they made, and with whattem-
per they they carried on the consultation, is,
of course, only matter of CONNECTION. But
tradition, which is always sufficiently coura-
geous for conjecture, asserts that having
possessed themselves of all that was valua-
bic in the ship, all that could be easily ap-
propriated-they determined to set her on
fire, as the only mode to conceal the bloody
testimonies of their crime. Their boats
were accordingly launched at midnight.
The mig was still calm, still beautiful, still
looking down as innocently as if there were
no crimes-as if death had never been born
among the children of men. Having trans
ferred their spoils to the boats, and COM
pleted their preparations, the vessel was set
on fire. The fire, fed by tarand other mat
ter, seized instantly upon the combustiblc
fabric The flames rose triumphantly in
the air, rushing from stern to stem, from
keel to bulwark, from thedec to the high
est point of the towering mast, involving
shroud and sail, rope and line, spar and
stancheon, in one general blaze, but to the
astonished eyes of the murderers, these OBJ
jects soon became distinctly articulated each
in its own outline, by the bright, burning,
unconsuming fire. Fast as they fled
stoutly as they pulled for land-they gaz-
ed with horror and CONSERVATION upon the
wondrous spectacle behind them-a ship
on fire that would not burn a fire that
would neither destroy its object, nor con-
ceal in it's smoke the form which it so COM
pletely enveloped! Strange and wondrous
spectacle indeed.
1t continued all the night to burn
speeding ON with the wind-now passing
out from sight, and anon, visible, flaming
forever, back again, on the very spot where
the crime had been committed. With the
dawn Of day, it had ceased to burn but
there it stood, erect as ever, with the spars
sails, masts, unconsumed-every thing in
place, but everything blackened, charred,
as if the fire having penetrated sufficiently
to discolor its object, had suddenly been ex.
tinguished. This was no sight for the
wretched criminals, but they watched it
through the day with fearful interest,"
f Every moment they looked to see it &C
f down. But, strange to say, while it never
sunk, it never moved. There was no anchor
r to hold it to those shores, there was no fas
A tening to bind it in its place, nor was there 4;
calm upon the face of the deep. Will
s eyes upon which some powerful spell hat
fastened itself with the force of fascination
n they watched the strange spectacle. Blu
lFI WIN IhC ACIuIA VI ACW 1uGGEcSI y
: dread was awakened in their bosoms A
n the sun went down, and the twilight dark
4 ened the earth, and the pale stars cam
= forth along the grey SUBMITS of heaven, tn
J. flames rekindled upon the vessel. Spa
n and mast became re-illuminated, once NOR
n the fire ragged, and the fame of the shi
a Redeemed from the bulwarks to the wave
q from deck to masthead, from stem to stern
% The dreadful sight could be borne no longer
i The murderers fed from the shore, fed t
% the forest, and buried themselves in tn
=, vast interior.
! Never, says the tradition, has the pena'
h ty of blood been paid The criminals wen
# free. No justice followed on their footstep:
o Whatever may have been their regrets
a, their remorse, it is very certain that hu
man laws have had no share in their pur
K ishment. They lived on the ill-gotte
ii spoils, their descendants still enjoy them
tb and thus it is that the burning ship of tt
re Palatines re-appears, each year, on the al
h. niversary of that night of crime, on tt
N. very spot where it was committed. TIL,
IS it burns from stem to stern, from deck
,is mast, consuming, but still unconsumeC
,re and thus it will continue to burn, until u
" on the last descendant of that bloody GREY
j the ever avenging Providence shall hay
X consummated the requisite retribution.