The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1866-02-07
The Alabama.

q = = - - y
The bones Of the noble Alabama, ifis!l
fathom five under the English channel,
have, perchance, long ere this suffered .
'se;s' change into something rich and
strange" Precious jewels these bones
would be if they could be fished up now
yet not, thank Heaven Of that sort Of value
which would make our Destructive friends
think it worth while to bring them into the
admiralty Courts. A Southron might pos.
sibly bepermitted to treasure shell-coyer-
ed rib, without fear Of having it torn from.
him by the myrmidons of the law And
we'll might that Southrou-wellg indeed,
might the citizen ofany section of the Uni.
ted States, if he considered the matter mag
unanimously cherish any relictlat could be
recovered of this dead lioness Of the seas.
For what a wonderful history was hers! A
single ship matched against one of the
greatest navies Of the world, yet keeping
the ocean in defiance of.all pursuit for--we
lforget-how many years! Fitting like a
peantom across the waters, appealing OF as,
|tonishingly short intervals in the most oppo-
site quarters of the globe, we used to fol-
low her track with something of that weird
interest which was wont to thrill us in our
boyhood when porting over q tale of the
ghostly Dutchtlan Of the Cape. Az one
time lostin the fogs ofthe Northern Allan
tic, at another popping up in the regions Of
trade winds; scattering dismay among the
clippers; and anon, far away in the direction
of; the dawn, where much more precious
spoil might be reaped, orsif not reaped, then
consigned to that vast locker Of which the
mystic "Davy" of the sailor is said TO keep
the key-such were the reports that reach
ed us from month to'month Of. this almost
ubiquitous vessel. Now we heard, perhaps
THAT, in the neighborhood of the Golden
Chersonesus, or under the rich shores Of
that utmost Indian Isle Toprobane" some
homeward bound Enelishman had been
startled by the dull boom of guns across
the pillows, while red light upon the hori-
zon informed him that the alabama" was
Illuminating the remote seas with the fires
of Confederate revenge; and, again little
later, il was bruited from port to port that
she was speeding across the main-happily
amazing the gentle islanders of the Pacific
with the CLEAN Of her beautiful but, unfa-
miliar flag--to complete the circuit Of her
awful mission With destruction Of a few
treasure ships Of the Ophir Of the West
The repeated achievement Ct the adventure
has rendered the cireumnavigatioR .ot the
globe, in these modern days . common
Iplace thing; but there was that in the er-
rand upon which the Alabama" was bound
which reinvested the voyage with it's old
romance; so that, in accompanying the voy-
age of the Southern cruiser upon her vari-
GUS paths, we used to experience a feeling
somewhat resembling that imaginative one
which Wordsworth has expressed in these
deep-toned lines:
"Almost as it was when ships were rare,
From time to time like pilgrims, here
!. and there, fff So rs
Crossing the waters, doubt and. some.
i thing dark,
j Ofthe old sea some reyerential fear.
| We're with us as we watched thee noble
/ bark"
i The career of the Alabama was worthily
J, closed. Challenged by a foe more powerful
than herself, she sailed forth bravely 10
battle, aud went down in sight ofths coast
of one people and OF the ships1of another
who each knew how to admire the yalol
which she had displayed. What pity anl
what u wonder it is, that the same generou.
appreciation of her glorious story and it,
> not less glorious end, is. not shared in the
; country which enshrines the name Of Law
!, rancel Who could believe, that did moi
know it, that we Southrons are expected BY
. those who call us brethren to remember thi;
!. gallant ship on as corsair, and its ,vene
t rated commander. now. alas! and it's vene
: rated commander, now, alas! in q Northern
+ prison; only as an INSCRIPTIONS pirate. AL
we cannot do this! With few exceptions w
b have, all of US, in our own day, partook O
9 the feelings which animated Capt. Raplae
t Semmes and his crew, and we know tina
It those feelings were very far from being sue
: as buccaneer could entertain. Whateve
e the prejudices Of foction may induce man.
J. persons to think. it is certain that the wor
r will agree with us in associating the CON
h mander THE Alabama not with the Kidd
y and the Black Boards, not even with tn
r I.'mildest hammered men that ever scuttle
ship" but with the Perys and the Nelson
l. ofhononble naval wal. Charleston Sout
r. Carolinian. 8