Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1860-01-20
AN INCIDENT AMONG THE ARABS.
To the Editors Of the Eren,ng Post;
All my Life [ have heard

10 me EdHOTS OF me EreRlIlQ Post:
All my life have heard
of our advance In civilization. the enlighten-
ment Of the nineteenth century exceeding
that of all other times. II enlightenment
means fine clothes, fine houses, and extrava-
CANT living, then we are advancing; hut it 1T
means truth, and hon sty, and unselfshness
and respect for the rights and feeling of 9TH
ers, then we have fallen behind our fathers.
and are fast sliding down hill into that
state of society we call semi-barbarous
cannot take up newspaper without being
convinced of our decline in morals. never
hear the shrieks of the "sI I'VE olirarchv. ="
in defence of what they call the rights of the
South, without being reminded of a scene |
! witnessed some fifty years ago on the coast of
Africa. | had shipped for Il voyage to RIO
having lost our cook overheard. we had
touched at Gibraltar and procured a new one.
a MJgadore jew, whose prciudices QIke
Websters) had been conquered by his inter
ests; we were not many days out when we
lost our canvass and spars in Southwestern,
| and were taken by the current on to the
! coast Of ZIhara. We ought to have quilted
the ship, when we saw that we could not
save her, but the captain was man who
would never say die, 50 we stuck to her, and
| IN the night went head on to a shoal, about
hundred yards from the beach. The vel
| low sky OF the morning. shining behind the
land, showed an inhospitable line of bare
| cliff, with a sandy beach in front. There
was nothing living to be seen. However, the
sun was not well up when we saw advancing
along the shore numerous parties of the
. chlvalry OF the desert, some running,
others on camels. When they came abreast
the ship, we saw they were a bl ek and
ragged set Of rascals. They would have
waded out, but fortunately the channel be-
tween the shOal and the shore was not
fordable, 50 they were obliged to content
themselves with shouting an sticulatins
violently, apparently in state of great ex-
cltement. What they said would have been
all Greek to us but for cur No gad0re man
he translated the burden of the harangue
was this: Come on land, We slaves, and de-
liver us our property; dogs, why do yod not
obey your masters villains, are you going
TO keep from Us the goods that God has sent
US? Come 10 us you infdel dogs, and sub
NIT to the masters that God has provided for
you" As we showed no disposition to obey
orders, their indignation increased, they
roared with fury, beating the ground with
their sticks. and leaping in a way that would
have been amusing had we been in safety
even as 1t was we could not help admiring
the extent and modesty Of their claims. At
length we observed at the end of the shOal
an opening where the surf broke with less
violence, 50 we determined to push through
1t. We got our whale-bJat over the bow out
OF the way Of the surf and slowed in water
and provisions. Wuile we were doing this !
our neighbors were more quiet, only now
and then hurrting up with commands 20
come u our masters Beng ready, we got
into the boat, and pulled with a will towards
the opening. Then came the storm oi indig-
nation, the shrieks Ot rage at the - bds:
slaves who were running away with their !
masters property. Tuey foil wed US along |
the beech firing their long guns at US; they /
were. hOweve iu0r marksmen with 4
the blessing of God we shot through
the surt, only getting the boat half full
of water. On the third day we wer-
picked up. The scene have described made
a deep impression on me. l thought no 9th
er people 50 ns0lently unreasonable as the
Bsdouins bat of h.ta ya,,rs the dshat.S in
Congress, and the southern press, have shown |
me that, with few honorable exceptions, /
the only diff renee between the lazy Arab OF |
the desert and the lOrdly Shareholder Of the |
South lies in cIlor and cleanliness. The in
ward man Is the same in both. They have
the same intense selhshness the same enur-
nous estimate of their own Consequence, and
the same INSCRIPTIONS disregard of the
right, Of others. They both pretend to de-
rive their claim on the persons Of r1en they
catch or purchase, from the DEGREES of God; /
indeed they seem To think that this hapless
portion Of mankind was created only for their
use and convenience, viewing any resistance
to their desires as an outrage perpetrated on |
lhem. However, there is one difference in
their morals the BedOuin never sells his
children into slavery or prostitution. On
careful survey Of the circumstances that in
huence our lives, have come to the conclu-
sion that our decline from the morl stand
ing Of our fathers is entirely owing to our
with southern slavery. Its ac-
ton on the general government spreads cor
ruption into every nook and corner of the
land, and if a Republican captain does not
soon take the command, the ship will be
wrecked, or will rot down, and we shall in
the next generation have to take our berth
among nations alongside Of Brazil.
Most respectfully remain your friend,
ZAcHARIA COFFIN,
an old-fashioned demoarat.