Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1860-06-22
- fhat fatal, that perfdous bark.
buit the eclipse, and rugged with curses dark D,
BY WHITTIER.

us dreadful condition did not preclude caIcuIa
on 10 save the expense of supporting slave
unsaleable, and to obtain grounds fo
claim against the underwriters, thirty-sir of I'll
egr0eS, hdUing become blind, agere thro,ra into III
"a and droraed!
In the midst of their dreadful fears lest tn
ohtary individual, whose sight remained maj
,cted, should also be seized with the maladv
sail was discovered. 1t was the Spanis]
aver. Leon. The same 'desease had beeI
lere and horrible to tell, all the crew had be
ONE blind Unable to assist each other, tn
essels parted. The Spanish ship has neye
nee been heard of. The Rodeur reache,
uaqaloupe on the 2lst of June the only MAJ
ho had escaped the descase, and had thus beel
na6led to steer the SLAYER into port, caught
l three days after its arrival Speech Of N
5en5aR1n Constant IN the French Chamber 0
Deputies, June IS, 1920.
"All ready ~ cried the captain:
'AyI ay !" the seamen said;
'Heaye up the worthless lubbers-
The dying and the deadn
Up from the slaye-ship's prison
Fierce, bearded heads were thrust
Now let the sharks look to it
Toss up the dead ones frst.''
corpse alter corpse came up
Death had been busy there;
Where every blow is mercy,
Why should the spoiler spare
Corpse after corpse they cast
Sullenly from the ship,
Yet bloody with the traces
Of tetter-ling and whip
Gloomily stood the captain
With his arms upon his breast,
With his cold brow sternly knotted,
And his iron lip compressed,
Are Gll the dead dogs over ~
GroWled through that matted lip
The blind ones are no better,
Let's tighten the good ship.''
Hark from the ships dark bosom,
The very sounds of hell
The ringing clank of IRON
The manlac's short, sharp yell
The hoarse, low curse, throat sti1ed-
The starving infants moan
The horror of a breaking heart
Poured through mothers groan!
Up from that loathsome prison
The stricken blind ones came;
Below had all been darkness
Above was still the same,
Yet the holy breath of heaven
Was sweetly breathing there,
And the heated brow of fever
Cooled in the soft sea air.
Overheard with them, shipmates -
Cutlass and dirk were piled;
Fettered and blind, one after one,
Plunged down the vessels side.
The S1hrp Sn1nta ab0yn-
Beneath, the lean shark lay,
Waiting with wide and bloody jaw
His quick and human prey.
God Of earth what cries
Rang upward unto Thee
Voices Of agony and blood,
From ship-deck and from sea-
The last dull plunge was heard
The last wave caught its STAIN
And the unsated shark looked up
For human hearts in vain,
x
Red gloWed the western waters
The setting sun was there,
Scattering alike on wave and cloud
His fiery mesh Of hair.
Amidst group in blindness,
a solitary eye
Gazed from the burning slaver's deck,
Into that burning sky.
a storm" spoke out the gazer,
us gathering and at hand
Curse on,t--rd give my other eve
For one firm rood of land.''
And then he laughed-but only
His echoing laugh replied
For the blinded and the suffering
Alone were at his side.
Night settled on the waters,
And on stormy heaven,
While fiercely on that lone ships track
The thunder-gust was driven.
IA ail!-thank God, sail -
And, as the helmsman spoke,
Up through the stormy murmur,
A shout of gladness broke
Down came the stranger vessel
Unheeding on her way,
So near, that on the slaver's deck
Fell off her driven spray.
'Ho! for the love of mercy
We're perishing and blind -
A wall of utter agony
Came back upon the wind:
heIp as Tor we are stricken
With blindness every one;
Ten days we've foated fearfully.
Unnoting star or SUM-
Our ships the SLAYER Leon
We've but a score on board
Our slaves are all gone over
Help-for the love of Godn'
On livid brows of agony
The broad red lightning shone-
But the roar of wina and thunder
Stifled the answering groan.
Walled from the broken waters
\ last despairing cry,
As, kindling in the stormy light.
The stranger ship went by.
In the sunny Guadaloupe
A dark Iulled vessel lay
With a crew who noted never
The night-fall or the day.
The blossom of the orange
Was white by every stream,
And tropic leaf, and flower, and bird
We're IN the warm sunbeam.
And the sky was bright as ever,
And the moonlight slept as well.
On the palm-trees by the hillside,
And the streamlet of the dell;
And the glanccs of the Creole
We're still as archly deep,
And her smiles as fnll as ever
ofpassion aud of sleep.
but vain were bird and blossom,
The green earth and the sky.
And the smiles Of human faces,
To the slaver's darkened eve +;
At the breaking of the morning,
At the star-iit evening time,
Ger a world Of light and beauty.
Fell the blaekneSs of his crime