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THE
ALGERINE CAPTIVE;
OR, THE
LIFE AND ADVENTURES
OP
DOCTOR UPDIKE UNDERBILL.
V , > i
SIX YEARS A PRISONER
AMONG THE ALGERINES*
...By your patience,
I will a ;oucd uryp.iwshed tale delicti
Of my whole course . . .
SHAKSFEA.RE.
TWO VOLUMES IN ONE.
HARTFORD :
PRINTED BY PETER B. GLEASON AND CO,
1816,
t
TO HIS EXCELLENCY
DAVID HUMPHREYS, ESQ.
MINISTER OF THE UNITED STATES
AT THE COURT OF LISBON, &C.
IN Europe, dedications have their price ; and
the author oftener looks to the plenitude of
the pockets, than the brains of his patron.
The American author can hope but little
pecuniary emolument from even the sale, and
not any from the dedication of his work. To
adorn his book with the name of some gentle
man of acknowledged merit involves his whole
Interest in a public address.
07402%
IV DfipICATION.
With this view, will you, Sir, permit a lover
of the Muses, and a biographer of private life,
{o address to you (a poet and the biographer of
a hero) a detail of those miseries of slavery,
from which your public energies have princi
pal \y conduced to liberate hundreds of our fel
low citizens,
UPDIKE UNDERBILL.
JijneSO, 1797.
PREFACE.
ONE of the first observations the author of the
following sheets made upon his return to his na
tive country, after an absence of seven years, was
the extreme avidity with which books of mere
amusement were purchased and perused by all
ranks g& his countrymen. When he left New Eng
land, books of biography, travels, novels, and mod
ern romances, were confined to our seaports ; or,
if known in the country, were read only in the
families of clergymen, physicians, and lawyers :
while certain funeral discourses, the last words and
dying speeches of Bryan Shaheen, and Levi Ames,
and some dreary somebody s Day of Doom, formed
the most diverting part of the farmer s library. On
his return from captivity, he found a surprising
alteration in the public taste. In our inland towns
of consequence, social libraries had been instituted,
composed of books designed to amuse rather than to
instruct; and country booksellers, fostering the new
born taste of the people, had filled the whole land
with modern travels, and novels almost as incredi
ble. The diffusion of a taste for any species of
writing through all ranks, in so short a time, would
appear impracticable to an European. The pea
sant of Europe must first be taught to read, before
he can acquire a taste in letters. In New England,
the work is half completed. In no other country
VI PREFACE.
are there so many people, who, in proportion to
its numbers, can read and write ; and, therefore,
no sooner was a taste for amusing literature diffused,
than all orders of country life, with one accord,
forsook the sober sermons and practical pieties of
their fathers, for the gay stories and splendid im
pieties of the traveller and the novelist. The wor
thy farmer no longer fatigued himself with Bun-
yan s Pilgrim up the hill of difficulty, or through
the < slough of despond ; but quaffed wine with
Brydone in the hermitage of Vesuvius, or sported
with Bruce on the fairy- land of Abyssinia : while
Dolly the dairy maid, and Jonathan the hi**d man,
threw aside the ballad of the cruel step-mother,
over which they had so often wept in cencert, and
now amused themselves into so agreeable a terror
with the haunted houses and hobgoblins of Mrs.
Ratcliffe, that they were both afraid to sleep alone.
Although a lover of literature, however frivolous,
may be pleasing to the man of letters, yet there
are two things to be deplored in it. The first is,
that, while so many books are vended, they are
not of our own manufacture. If our wives and
daughters will wear gauze and ribbands, it is a
pity they are not wrought in our own looms. The
second misfortune is, that novels, being the picture
of the times, the New England reader is insensibly
taught to admire the levity, and often the vices,
of the parent country. While the fancy is enchant
ed, the heart is corrupted. The farmer s daughter,
while she pities the misfortune of some modern
heroine, is exposed to the attacks of vice, from
which her ignorance would have formed her surest
shield. If the English novel does not inculcate
?REPACK. VU
vice, it at least impresses on the young female mind
an erroneous idea of the world in which she is to
live. It paints the manners, customs, and habits,
of a strange country ; excites a fondness for false
splendor ; and renders the home-spun habits of her
own country disgusting.
There are two things wanted, said a friend to
the author : that we write our own books of amuse
ment, and that they exhibit our own manners.
Why then do you not write the history of your
own life ? The first part of it, if not highly inter
esting, would at least display a portrait of New
England manners, hitherto unattempted. Your
captivity among the Algerines, with some notices
of the manners of that ferocious race, so dreaded
by commercial powers, and so little known in our
country, would at least be interesting ; and I see
no advantage which the novel writer can have over
you, unless your readers should be of the senti
ment of the young lady mentioned by Addison in
his Spectator, who, as he informs us, borrowed
Plutarch s Lives, and, after reading the first volume
with infinite delight, supposing it to be a novel y
threw aside the others with disgust, because a man
of letters had inadvertently told her the work wa?
founded on FACT.
THE
ALGERINE CAPTIVE.
CHAP. I.
Think ox thi:s, good sirs, -
But as a thing of cu3toyn~ Us, no otbe.,
Only it spoils the pleasure of the time.
.-. - - SEAtLCPEA
ARGUMENT,
Tlie Author gives an Account ofhi$ gallant Jl?ices.-
tor, Captain John Underhill,~his arrival in Mas
sachusetts) and Persecution by the first Settlers.
I DERIVE my birth from one of the first emigrants
to New England, being lineally descended from
captain John Underbill, who came into the Massa
chusetts in the year 1630; of ivhom honourable
mention is made by that elegant, accurate, and in
teresting historian, the Rev. Jeremy Belknap, in
his History of New Hampshire.
My honoured ancestor had early imbibed an ar
dent love of liberty, civil and religious, by his ser
vice as a soldier among the Dutch, in their glorious
and successful struggle for freedom, with Philip 11.
of Spain ; in which, though quite a youth, he held
a commission in the earl of Leicester s own troop
of guards, who was then sent to the assistance of
that brave people, by the renowned queen Eliza
beth of England.
10 ALGERINE CAPTIVE.
The extravagant passion which that princess was
supposed to entertain for various male favourites,
which occasioned the disgrace of one and the pre
mature death of another, while it has furnished a
darling theme to the novelist, and has been wept
over in the tragic scene, has never yet received
the sober sanction of the historian.
A traditional family anecdote, while it places
the aiietion of the queen for Leicester beyond
doubt, 1 may not be unpleasing to the learned rea
der, and may .benefit the English historiographer.
it is. well known that this crafty queen, though
repeatedly solicited, never efficaciously assisted
the Netherlander, until their affairs were appa
rently at the lowest ebb, and they in such despe
rate circumstances as to offer the sovereignty of
their country to her general, the earl of Leicester.
Captain Underbill carried the dispatches to Eng
land, and delivered them at the office of lord Bur-
leigh. The same evening the queen sent for the
captain, and, with apparent perturbation, inquired
of him, if he was the messenger from Leicester,
and whether he had any private dispatches for her.
He replied, that he had delivered all his letters to
the secretary of state. She appeared much dis
appointed, and, after musing some time, said
" So, Leicester wants to be a king." Underbill,
who was in the general s confidence, replied, that
the Dutch had indeed made the offer of the sove
reignty of their country to her general esteeming
it a great honour, as they said, to have a subject
of her grace for their sovereign. " No." replied
the queen, " it is not the Dutch ; they hate kings
and their divine right ; it is the proud Leicester,
ALGERINE CAPTIVE ,
who longs to be independent of his own sovereign,
who moves this insolent proposal. Tell him, from
me, that he must learn to obey before he is fit to
govern. Tell him," added the queen, softening
her voice, " that obedience may make him a king
indeed." Immediately after captain Underbill had
taken the public dispatches, the queen sent for him
to her privy closet, recalled her verbal message,
delivered him a letter for Leicester directed with
her own hand, and a purse of one hundred crowns
for himself ; charging him to inclose the letter in
lead, sink it in case of danger in his passage by
sea, and to deliver it privately. On the receipt
of this letter, Leicester was violently agitated, and
walked his chamber the whole of the ensuing
night. Soon after, he resigned his command, and
returned to England, animated by the brightest
hopes of realizing the lofty suggestions of his am
bition. With him captain Underbill returned, and
upon the decease, ot the earl of Leicester, attached
himself to the fortunes of the earl of Essex, the un
fortunate successor to Leicester in the queen s fa
vour. He accompanied that gallant nobleman in
his successful attack upon Cadiz, and shared his
ill fortune in hisffruitjess expedition against Ty
ronne, the rebel chief of the revolted clans of Ire
land ; and, returning with the earl into England,
by his attachment to that imprudent nobleman,
sallying into the streets of London in the petty in
surrection which cost Essex his head, he was obli
ged to seek safety in Holland, until the accession
of king James, in 1603, when he applied for par
don, and leave to return to his native country,
"Bart that monarch entertained such an exalted idea
12 ALGERINE CAPTIVE*
of the dignity of kings, and, from policy, affected
so great a veneration for the memory of his pre
decessor, that no interest of his friends could pro
cure his pardon for an offence which, at this day,
in this country, would be considered a simple rout
or riot, and punished with a small fine. In that
age of kingly glory, however, it was supposed to
combine treason and blasphemy : treason against
the queen in her political capacity, and blasphe
my against her as God s representative and vice
gerent on earth.
The reverend Mr. Robinson, with a number of
other pious puritans, who fled from the persecuting
fury of the English prelates, to Holland, in 1603,
dwelt and communed with them a number of years.
He was strongly solicited to go with governor Car
ver, Elder Brewster, and the other worthies, part
of Mr. Robinson s church, to the settlement of Ply
mouth, and had partly engaged with them, as their
chief military officer ; but captain Miles Standish,
his brave fellow-soldier in the Low Countries, un
dertaking the business, he declined.
How he joined governor Winthrop does not ap
pear, but he came over to New England with him,
and soon after we find him disciplining the Boston
militia, where he was held in such high estimation,
that he was chosen to represent that town in the
general court ; but his ideas of religious toleration
being more liberal than those around him, he lost
his popularity, and was, on the 20th of November,
1637, disfranchised, and eventually banished the
jurisdiction of Massachusetts.
The writers of those times differ as to the par
ticular offence for which he was punished. Some
ALGERINE CAPTIVE. 13
-aj that it was for holding the antinomian tenets
of the celebrated Anne Hutchinson ; others, that
the charge against him was for saying, " That the
government of Boston were as zealous as the scribes
and pharisees, and as Paul before his conversion. 5 *
The best account I have been able to collect is,
that at the time when the zeal of our worthy fore
fathers burned the hottest against heretics and sec
taries ; when good Roger Williams, who settled
Providence, the pious Wheelwright, and others,
were banished ; he (with about sixty other im
prudent persons, who did not believe in the then
popular argument of fines, imprisonment, disfran-
chisement, confiscation, banishments, and halters
for the conversion of infidels) supposed that the
Christian faith, which had spread so wonderfully
in its infancy, when the sword of civil power \vas
drawn against it, needed not the same sword un
sheathed in its favour, in an age when it was sur
rounded by numerous proselytes. These mista
ken people signed a remonstrance against the vio
lent proceedings which were the order of that day.
William Aspinwall and John Coggeshell, two of
the Boston representatives, who signed the remon
strance, were sent home, and the town ordered to
choose others in their room. Some of the remon
strants recanted, some were fined, some were dis-
iranchised, and others, among whom was captain
Underbill, were banished.
It is said by some authors, that he was charged
with the heinous crime of adultery, and that he
even confessed it. The candid American author
above named has fallen into this error. As I am
sure it must have given him pain to sneak cell
34 ALGERINE CAPTIVE.
even of the dead, so I am certain he will rectify
the mistake in the next edition f his invaluable
history.
That author informs us, in page 43 of his first
volume, " That he, captain Underhill, was pri
vately dealt with, on suspicion of adultery, which
he disregarded ; and therefore on the next sab
bath was questioned for it before the church ; but
the evidence not being sufficient to convict him,
the church could only admonish him." Page 45,
" He went to Boston, and in the same public man
ner acknowledged his adultery. But his confes
sion was mixed with so many excuses and exten
uations, that it gave no satisfaction."
The unwary reader would perhaps conclude,
that actual adultery was intended, as well as ex
pressed, in these extracts. The reverend author
himself did not advert to the idea, that the moral
law of Boston, in 1637, was not so lax as the
moral law of the same place in 1784, as explained
by the practice of its inhabitants. The rigid
discipline of our fathers of that era often construed
actions, expressions, and sometimes thoughts, into
crimes ; which actions, in this day, even the most
precise would consider either innocent, indiffer
ent, or beneath the dignity of official notice.
The fact is, that captain Underhill, so far from
confessing, was never charged with committing,
actual statute-book adultery. At a certain lecture
in Boston, instead of noting in his Bible the
texts referred to, according to the profitable custom
of the times, this gallant soldier had fixed his eyes
steadfastly, and perhaps inordinately, upon one
mistress Miriam Wilbore ; who it seems was,
ALGE&INE CAPTIVE. 15
at that very time, herself in the breach of the
spirit of an existing law, which forbade women
to appear in public with uncovered arms and
necks, by appearing at the same lecture with a
pair of wanton open worked gloves, slit at the
thumbs and fingers, for the conveniency of taking
snuff: though she was not charged with this lat
ter crime of using tobacco. It was the adultery
of the hearty then of which my gallant ancestor
was accused, and founded on that text of Scrip
ture, " Whosoever looketh on a woman to lust
after her, hath committed adultery with her al^
ready in his heart."
CHAP. II.
. The glorious Sun himself
Bears on his splendid disk dark spots obscure.
Who, in his bright career, denotes those stains,
Or basely from his full meridian turns,
And scorns his grateful salutary rays ?
AUTHOR S Manuscript Poems.
ARGUMENT.
The Author rescuethfrom Oblivion a valuable Man
uscript Epistle, reflecting great light on the Judi
cial Proceedings in the first Settlement of Massa
chusetts : Apologiseth for the Persecutors of his
Ancestor,
I HAVE fortunately discovered, pasted on the back
of an old Indian deed, a manuscript which reflects
great light upon my ancestor s conduct and on
16 ALGERINE CAPTIVE,
he transactions of those times ; which, accor
ding to the beneficial mode of modern historians,
I shall transcribe literally.
It should be premised, that in the year 1636,
the governor, deputy governor, three assistants,
and three ministers (among whom was Hugh Pe
ters, afterwards hung and quartered in England
for his adherance to Oliver Cromwell,) were en
treated by the Massachusetts court to make a
draught of laws, agreeable to the word of God,
to report to the next general court ; and, in the
interim, the magistrates were directed to deter
mine causes according to the laws then established ;
and where no laws existed, then as near to the
word of God as they could.
[Indorsed)
BROTHER UNDERBILL S EPISTLE.
To Master HANSERD KNOLLYS
these greeting.
Worthee and Beloved,
Remembrin my kind love to Mr. Hilton, I now
send you some note of my tryalls at Boston. Oh
that I may come out of this, and al the lyke try-
alls, as goold sevene times puryfyed in the fur-
nice.
After the rulers at Boston had fayled to fas-
tenne what Roger Harlakenden was pleased to call
the damning errours of Anne Hutchinson upon me.
I looked to be sent away in peace ; but governour
Winthrop sayd I must abide the examing of ye
church ; accordingly, on the thyrd day of ye \veeke,
K CAPTIVE. IT
I vidd convened before them. Sir Harry Vane,
the governour, Dudley Haines, with masters Cot
ton, Shepherd, and Hugh Peters, present, with
others. They propounded that I was to be exam
ined, touching a certain act of adultery I had com
mitted wilh one mistress Miriam Wilbore, wife
of Samuel Wilbore, for carnally looking to luste
after her, at the lecture in Boston, when master
Shepherd expounded. This mistress Miriam hath
since been dealte with for coming to that lecture
wilh a pair of wanton open workt gloves, slit at
(he thumbs and fingers, for the purpose of taking
snuff ; for, as master Cotton observed, for what
end should those vaine opennings be, but for ,the
intent of taken filthy snuff? and he quoted Gregory
Nazianzen upon good works. Master Peters said,
that these opennings were Satan s. port-holes of firy
temptatione. Mistress Miriam offerd in excuse of
her vain attire> that she was newle married, and
appeard in her bridall arraye. Master Peters said
that marriage was the occasion that the devil tooke
io caste his fiery darts, and lay his pit-falls of
temptation, to catch frale flesh and bloode. She
is to be further dealt with for taken snuff. How the
;je of the good creature tobaccoe can be an offence
I cannot see. Oh, my beloved, how these prowde
pharisges labour about the ininte and cummine !
< --overnour Winthrop inquired of mee if I confessed
:he matter. I said I wished a copy of there charge,
Sir Harry Vane said. tf< there was no neede of
any coppie. seeing I knew I was guiltie. Char
ges being made out where there was an uncertain-
tie whether the accused was guiltie or not, and to
: t!;c accused into the nature of his cry me,
18 ALGIilUNE CAPTIVE.
here was no need." Master Cotton said, " Did
you not look upon mistress Wilbore ?" 1 confessed
that I did. He said, " Then you are verelic
guiltie, brother Underbill." I said, " Nay, I did
not look at the woman lustfully." Master Peters
said, " Why did you not look at sister Newell or
sister Upharn ?" I said, " Verelie they are not
desyrable women, as to temporal graces." Then
Hugh Peters and al cryed, "It is enough, he
hath confessed, and passed to excommunication."
I sayd, " Where is the law by which you con-
dernne me ?" Winthrop said, " There is a com
mittee to draught laws. Brother Peters, are you
not on that committee ? I am sure you have made
a law againste this cryinge sin." Hugh Peters
replyed, " that he had such a law in his minde,
but had not written it downe." Sir Harry Vane
said, " It is sufficient." Haynes said, " Ay, law
enough for antinomians." Master Cotton tooke a
Bible from his coate, and read, Whoso looketh on
a 3, onum, &c.
William -Blaxton* had been with me privelie ;
* When our forefathers first came to Boston, they
found this William Blaxton in the possession of the
site where the town now stands. The general
court, April 1st, 1633, granted him fifty asres of
land near \vhere his house stood, supposed to be
where the pest-house in Boston formerly stood. He
afterwards removed to Rhode Island, and lived near
Whipple s Bridge in Cumberland. He planted the
first orchard in that district, the fruit of which was
eaten of one hundred and forty years afterwards,
and some of the trees are now standing. He hnd
been a minister of the church of England, preached
often at Providence, and died in a good old
much lamented.
19
he weeps over the cryinge sins of the times, and
expecteth soone to gpe out of the jurisdiction. " I
came from England, sais he, " because 1 did not
like the lords bishops ; but I have yet to praye to
be delivered from the lords bretherenne."
Salute brother Fish and others, who, havinge
been disappointed of libertie in this wilderness, are
:rnestlie lookinge for a better countre.
You re felloe traveller
in this vale of tears,
JOHN UNDERHILL.
Boston, 28th Fourth Month, 1638.
It is with great reluctance I am induced to pub
lish this letter, which appears to reflect upon the
justice of the proceedings of our forefatheis. I
would rather, like the sons of Noah, go backwards,
and cast a garment over our fathers nakedness ;
but the impartiality of an historian, and the nat
ural solicitude to wipe the stains from the memory
of my honoured ancestor, will excuse me to the
candid reader. Whoever reflects upon the piety
of our forefathers, the noble unrestrained ardour
vuth which they resisted oppression in England,
relinquished the delights of their native country,
crossed a boisterous ocean, penetrated a savage
wilderness, encountered famine, pestilence, and
n ar, and transmitted to us their sentiments of in
dependence, that love of liberty, which under
lod has enabled us to obtain our glorious freedon},
will readily pass over those few dark spots o:
:ceal which clouded their rising; sun.
JO ALGERINE CAPTIVL-
CHAP. III.
The devil offered Our Lord all the kingdoms of the
earth, when the condemned soul did not own one
foot of the territory. .
ETHAN ALLEN.
ARGUMENT*
Captain Underhill seeks shelter in Dover in New
Hampshire Is chosen Governor by the Settlers
Driren by the pious Zeal of his Persecutors to
seek shelter in Albany Reception among the
Dutch Exploits in the Indian Wars Grant
of a valuable Tract of Land The Author anti
cipates his encountering certain Land-Specula
tors in Hertford A Taste of the Sentiments of
those Gentlemen Farther Account of his An-
I
ccstors. .
WHEN the sentence of banishment was passed
on captain Underhill, he returned to Dover in New
Hampshire, and was there elected governor of thr
European settlers ; but notwithstanding his great
, e ;ervice to the people of Massachusetts in the Pe-
quod wars, his persecutors in Boston would not
allow him to die in peace ; for, by writing injuri
ous letters to those he governed, by threats of their
power, and by determining that Dover was within
the jurisdiction of Massachusetts, they forced him
to flee to Albany, then possessed by the Dutch, un
der the name of Amboyna.
The Dutch were highly pleased with the cap
tain; and after Dutchify ing his name into Captain
Hans Van YandcrhiU, they gave him a com; 1 ..
CAPTIVE.
of one hundred and twenty men, in their wars with
the natives. It is said that he killed one hundred
and fifty Indians on Long Island, and upwards of
three hundred on the Main. The laurels of the
famous colonel Church wither in this comparison.
The Dutch granted him fifty thousand acres of -
land, then in their possession. Although the En
glish, when they took possession of that country
for the duke of York, afterwards James the Sec
ond, had promised to quiet the claims of the set*
tiers, yet captain Underbill or his posterity have
never availed themselves of the grant. When I
mentioned this circumstance some time since in
Hertford, certain gentlemen immediately offered to
raise a company and purchase my right. I can~
didly confessed that I was not possessed of the ti
tle, and knew not the particular spot where the
land lay, and consequently was unwilling to sell
land without title or boundaries. To my surprise
they laughed ctt my scruples, and observed that
they wanted the land to speculate upon ; to sell,
and not to settle. Titles and boundaries, in such
cases, I understood were indifferent matters, mere
trifles.
My- brave ancestor, at an advanced age, died
in Albany, leaving two sons ; the youngest of
whom removed to the Mouth of Hudson, where
some of his posterity flourish respectably to this
day. The eldest son, Benoni, from whom I am
descended, some years after his father s decease,
after being the subject of various misfortunes, re
turned in impoverished circumstances to New
Hampshire, where the family have continued ever
since.
A LUElUJfE CAPTIVK.
CHAP. IV.
Nor yet alone by day th* unerring hand
Of Providence unseen directs man s path ;
But, in the boding vision of the night,
By antic shapes, in gay fantastic dream,
Gives dubious prospect of the coming good ;
Or, with fell precipice, or deep swoln flood,
Dark dungeon, or vain flight from savage foe,
The labouring siumberer warns of future ill.
AUTHOR S Manuscript Poems*
ARGUMENT.
The Author s Birth, and a remarkable Dream of
his Mother Observations on foreboding Dreams
The Author recitcth a Dream of Sir William
PhippSy Governor of Massachusetts, and refer-
| reth small Infidels to Mather s Magnolia.
I WAS born on the 16th of July, A. D. 1762. My
mother, some months before my birth, dreamt that
she was delivered of me ; that I was lying in the
cradle ; that the house was beset by Indians, who
broke into the next room, and took me into the
fields with them ; that, alarmed by their hideous
yellings and war whoops, she ran to the window,
and saw a number of young tawny savages playing
at foot-ball with my head ; while several sachems
and sagamores were looking on unconcerned.
This dream made a deep impression on my mo
ther. I well recollect, when a boy, her stroking
my flaxen locks, repeating her dream, and observ
ing with a sigh to my father, that she was sure Up
dike was born to be the sport of fortune, and that
ALGERINE CAPTIVE. 25
he would one day suffer among, savages. Dear
woman ! she had the native Indians in her mind,
but never apprehended her poor son s suffering
many years, as a slave, among barbarians more
cruel than the monsters of our "own woods.
The learned reader will smile contemptuously,
perhaps, upon my mentioning dreams in this en
lightened age. I only relate facts, and leave the
reader to his own comments. My own opinion of
dreams I shall conceal, perhaps because 1 am
ashamed to disclose it. 1 will venture to observe.,
that if we inspect the sacred scriptures, we shall
find frequent instances, both of direction to duty,
and forewarning of future events communicated by
Providence through the intervention of dreams.
Is not the modern Christian equally the care of
indulgent heaven as the favoured Jew or the be-
Joved patriarch ?
Many modern examples of the foreboding vi
sions of the night may be adduced. William
Phipps, a poor journeyman ship-carpenter, dreamt,
that he should one day ride in his coach, and live
in a grand house near Boston common. Many
years afterwards, when he was knighted by Wil
liam the Third, and came from England governor
of Massachusetts Bay, this dream, even as to the
situation of the grand house, was literally and
minutely fulfilled. If the insect infidels of the
day doubt this fact, let them consult, for their edi
fication, the learned doctor Mather s Magnalia,
where the whole story at large is minutely and
amply related. It was the error of the times of
monkish ignorance to believe every thing ; it may
24 ALGERINE CAPTIVE.
possibly be tlie error of the present day to credit
nothing.
CHAP. V.
Tis education forms the common mind :
Jast as the twig is bent, the tree s inclin d.
POPE.
ARGUMENT.
The Author is placed at a private Scliool Paren
tal Motives to a College Education Their De
sign frustrated by Family Misfortune.
IN my childhood I was sent, as is customary, to
a woman s school in the summer, and to a man s
in the winter season, and made great progress in
such learning as my preceptors dealt in. About
my twelfth year, our minister, who made it his cus
tom to inspect the schools annually, came to our dis
trict. My master, who looked upon me as his best
scholar, directed me to read a lesson in Dilworth s
spelling-book, which I recited as loud as I could
speak without regard to emphasis or stops. This
so pleased our minister, who prided himself on the
strength of his own lungs, that, a short time after,
coming to my father s to dicker , as they styled it,
about a swap of cattle, and not finding my father
sharp at the bargin, he changed the discourse up
on me, observing, "how delighted he was with my
performances at school. What a pity it was such
a genius was not encouraged I Mr. Underbill,
ALGERINE CAPTIVE. 25
you must put Updike to learning." My lather
pleaded poverty. " When 1 went to Harvard col
lege," replied the minister, " I was poor indeed.
I had no father with a good farm to assist me ;
but, with being butler s freshman, and ringing the
bell the first year, waiter the three last, and keep
ing school in the vacations, I rubbed through, and
am now what I am ; and who knows," continued
he, " but when Updike has completed his educa
tion, he may make a minister ; and possibly,
when my usefulness is over, supply our very
pulpit?" .
lily mother here interfered. She was a little,
spare woman. My father was a large bony man,
famous, in his youth, for carrying the ring at
wrestling; and, in his latter years, for his perse
verance at town meetings. But, notwithstanding
my father s success in carrying points abroad, my
mother, some how or other, contrived always to
carry them at home. My father never would ac-
knewledge this ; but when a coarse neighbour
would sometimes slily hint the adage of the grey
mare being the better horse, he would say to his
particular friends, that he always was conqueror
in his domestic warfare : but would confess that
he loved quiet, and was of late tired of perpetu
ally getting the victory. My mother joined the
minister, observing that Updike should have
learning, though she worked her hands to the bone
to procure it. She did not doubt, when he came
to preach, he would be as much run after as the
great Mr. Whitfield. " I always- thought," con
tinued she, u the child was a genius ; and al
ways intended he should go to college, The
3
ZO ALGER1NE CAPTIVE.
boy loves books. He has read Valentine and
Orson, and Robinson Crusoe. I went, the other
day, three miles to borrow Pilgrim s Progress for
him. He has read it through every bit ; ay, and
understands it too. Why, he stuck a skewer
through Apollyon s eye in the picture, to help
Christian beat him. My father could not- answer
my mother s argument. The dicker about the oxen
was renewed ; and it was concluded to swap even,
though my father s were much the likelier cattle ;
and that I should go that week and study Latin
with the minister, and be fitted for college.
With him I studied four years, labouring inces
santly at Greek and Latin : as to English gram-
Hiar, my preceptor, knowing nothing of it him
self, could communicate nothing to me. As he
was enthusiastically attached to the Greek, and
had delivered an oration in that language at the
commencement at Cambridge, when he took his
first degree, I, by his direction, committed to me
mory above four hundred of the most sonorous lines
in Homer, which I was called to repeat before a
number of clergymen, who visited him at an an
nual convention in our parish. These gentlemen
were ever pleased to express astonishing admira
tion at my literary acquirements. One of them
prognosticated that I should be a general, from
the fire and force with which I recited Homer s
battles of the Greeks and Trojans. Another ar
gued that I should be a member of congress, and
equal the Adams s in oratory, from my repeating
the speeches at the councils of the heathen gods with
such attention to the caesura. A third was sure
that I should become a Witherspoon in divinity-.
ALGERINE CAPTIVE. 27
from the pathos with which I declaimed Jupiter s
speech to all the gods. In fine, these gentlemen
considered the classics the source of all valuable
knowledge. With them dead languages were
more estimable than living ; and nothing more
necessary to accomplish a young man for all that
is profitable and honourable in life than a profound
knowledge of Homer. One of them gravely obser
ved that he was sure general Washington read
Greek ; and that he never would have captured the
Hessians at Trenton, if he had not taken his plan
of operation from that of Ulysses and Diomede
seizing the horses of Rhesus, as described in the
tenth book of the Iliad.
, Thus flattered by the learned that I was in the
high road to fame, I gulped down portions of
Greek daily, while my preceptor made quarterly
visits to my father s barn-yaad for pay for my in
struction.
In June, 178b, my father began seriously to
think of sending me to college. He called upon
a neighbour, to whom he had sold part of his
farm, for some cash. His creditor readily paid
down the whole sum due, in paper money ; and
my father found, to his surprise, that the value of
three acres paid him the principal and interest of
the whole sum, for which he had sold seventy -five
acres of land five years before. This was so se
vere a stroke of ill fortune, that it entirely frustra
ted the design of sending ine to college.
ALGERINE CAPTIVE.
CHAP. VI.
Hetroclita sunto.
LILLY S GRAMMAR,.
ARGUMENT.
This Chapter containeth an Eulogy on the Greek
Tongue.
WHAT added to the misfortune mentioned in the
last chapter was, that a worthy divine, settled in
Boston, passing through our town, told my father,
in a private conversation, that al! the Greek I had
acquired was of no other service than fitting me
for college. My father was astonished. He was
a plain unlettered man, of strong natural abilities.
" Pray, reverend sir," said my father, " do they
not learn this Greek language at college ? If
0, why do such wise men as the governors
of colleges teach boys what is entirely useless ?
1 thought that the sum of all good education was,
to teach youth those things which they were to
practise in after life." " Learning," replied our
enlightened visitor, " has its fashions ; and, like
other fashions of this world, they pass away.
When our forefathers founded the college at Cam
bridge, crrtical knowledge in the mazes and
subtleties of school divinity was all the mode.
He that could give a new turn to an old text,
or detect a mistranslation in the version, was
more admired than the man who invented printing,
discovered the magnetic powers, or contrived an
instrument of agriculture which should abridge the
labour of the husbandman. The books of our faith-,
ALGEEINE CAPTIVE. 29
with the voluminous commentaries of the fathers,
being originally written in what are now called
the dead languages, the knowledge of those langua
ges was then necessary for the accomplishment of
the fashionable scholar. The moderns of New
England have ceased to interest themselves in the
disputes, whether a civil oath may be administered
to an unregenerate man ; or whether souls, existing
merely in the contemplation of Deity, are capable
of actual transgression. Fashion has given a new
direction to the pursuits of the learned. They no
longer soar into the regions of infinite space ; but
endeavour, by the aid of natural and moral philoso
phy, to amend the manners and better ihe condition
of man : and the college at Cambridge may be
assimilated to an old beau, with his pocket-holes
under his arm-pits, the skirts- of his coat to his an
kles, and three gross of buttons on his breeches ;
looking with contempt on the more easy useful
garb of the present day, for deviating from what
was fashionable in his youth. *
" But," inquired my father, " is there not
some valuable knowledge contained in those
Greek books ?" " All that is useful in them," replied
our visitor, " is already translated into English ;
and more of the sense and spirit may be imbibed
from translations than most scholars would be able
to extract from the originals, if they even availed
themselves of such an acquaintance with that lan
guage as is usually acquired at college.
" Well" replied my father, " do you call their,
dead laguages. It appears to me now, that con-
lining a lad of lively genius to the study of them,
:br five or six of the most precious years of hi?
30 ALGERINE CAPTlVfi,
youth, is like the ingenious cruelty of those tyrants
I have heard of, who chained the living and the
dead together. If Updike went to college, I
should wish he would learn, not hard zvords but
useful things"
* You spake of governors of colleges," contin
ued our visitor. " Let me observe, as an apology
for the concern they may be supposed to have
in this error, that they are moral worthy men, who
have passed the same dull routine of education, and
whose knowledge is necessarily confined to these
defunct languages. They must teach their pupils
what they know, not what they do not know.
That measure which was measured unto them,
they mete out most liberally unto others."
" Should not the legislature, as the fathers of the
people, interfere ?" inquired my father. " We
will not talk politics at this time," replied our
visitor.
My father was now determined that I should
not go to college. He concealed this conversation
from me, and 1 was left to be proud of my Greek.
The little advantage this deceased > language has
since been to me has often caused me sorely to
regret the inispending of the time in acquiring it.
The French make it no part of their academical
studies. Voltaire, d Alembert, and Diderot, when
they completed their education, were probably
ignorant of the cognata te.mpora of a Greek verb.
It was re?olved that I should labour on my fa
ther s farm ; but, alas ! a taste for Greek had quite
eradicated a love for labour. Poring so intensely
on Homer and Virgil had so completely tilled my
brain with the heathen mythology, that I hnagin*
ALGERINE CAPTIVE. 21
ed a hamadryad in every sapling, a nai ad in every
puddle ; and expected to hear the sobbings of the
infant fauns as I turned the furrow. I gave Greek
names to all our farming tools, and cheered the
cattle with hexameter verse. My father s hired
men, after a tedious day s labour in the woods,
inspecting our stores for refreshment, instead of the
customary bread and cheese and brandy, found
Homer s Iliad, Virgil Delphini, and Schrevelius s
Lexicon, in the basket.
After I had worked on the farm some months,
having killed a fat heifer of my father s, upon
which the family depended for their winter s beef,
covered it with green boughs, and laid it in the
shade to putrefy, in order to raise, a swarm of bees*
after the manner of Virgil which process, not
withstanding I followed closely the directions in
the Georgies, somehow or other failed -my fath
er consented to my mother s request, that I should
renew my career of learning.
CHAP. VII.
Delightful task ! to rear the tender thought,
To teach the young idea how to shoot,
To pour the fresh instruction o er the mind,
To breathe th* enlivening spirit, and to fix
The gen rous purpose in the glowing breast,
THOMSONS SEASONS.
ARGUMENT.
The Author keepeth a Country School The Anti-
cipationsy Pleasures, and Profits of a Pedagogue.
BY our minister s recommendation, I was enga
ged to keep a school in a neighbouring town, so
seen as our fall s work was over.
J2 ALGERINE CAPTIVE.
How was my heart dilated with the prospect,
in the tedious interval previous to my entering up
on my school ! How often have 1 stood suspended
over my dungfork, and anticipated my scholars,
seated in awful silence around me, my arm-chair
and birchen sceptre of authority ! There was an
echo in my father s sheep pasture. More than
once I have repaired there alone, and exclaimed,
with a loud voice, Is master Updike Underbill at
home ? I would speak with master Underbill ! for
the pleasure of hearing how my title sounded.
Dost thou smile, indignant reader ? pause, and re
collect if these sensations have not been familiar
to thee, at some time in thy life. If thou answer-
est disdainfully no then I aver thou hast never
been a corporal in the militia, nor a sophomore at
college.
At times I however entertained less pleasing,
but more rational, contemplations on my prospects.
As I had been once unmercifully whipped, for
detecting my master in a false concord, I resolved
to be mild in my government, to avoid all manu
al correction, and doubted not by these means to
secure the love and respect of my pupils.
In the interim of school hours, and in those
peaceful intervals when my pupils were engaged
in study, I hoped to indulge myself with my fa
vourite Greek. I expected to be overwhelmed
with the gratitude of their parents, for pouring the
fresh instruction over the minds of their children,
and teaching their young ideas how to shoot. I
anticipated independence from my salary, which
was to be equal to four dollars, hard money, per
month, and my boarding : and expected to fin<[
ALGERINE CAPTIVE. o*>
amusement and pleasure among the circles of the
young, and to derive information and delight from
the classic converse of the minister.
In due time my ambition >vns gratified, and I
placed at the head of a school, consisting of about
sixty scholars. Excepting three or four overgrown
boys of eighteen, the generality of them were un
der the age of seven years. Perhaps a more rag
ged, ill-bred, ignorant set, never were collected,
for the punishment of a poor pedagogue. To
study in school was impossible. Instead of the
silence I anticipated, there was an incessant clam
our. Predominant among the jarring sounds were
Sir, may I read ? May 1 spell ? Master may I
go out? YVill master mend my pen ? What with
the pouting of the small children, sent to school
not to learn, but to keep them out of harm s way,
and the gruff surly complaints of the larger ones,
I was nearly distracted. Homer s poluphloisboio
tkalasses, roariiig sea, was a whisper to it. My
resolution to avoid beating them made me invent
small punishments, which often have a salutary
impression on delicate minds ; but they were in
sensible to shame. The putting of a paper fool s-
cap on one, and ordering another under my great
chair, only excited mirth in the school ; which the
very delinquents themselves often increased by
loud peals of laughter. Going one frosty morning,
into my school, I found one of the larger boys
sitting by the fire in my arn>chair. I gently re
quested him to remove. He replied that he would,
when he had warmed himself : " father finds
wood, and not you." To have my throne usurp
ed, in the face of the whole school, shock my gov
$4 ALGERINE CAPTIVE.
ernment to the centre. I immediately snatched
my two-foot rule, and laid it pretty smartly across
his back. He quitted the chair, muttering that he
would tell father. I found his threats of more
consequence than I apprehended. The same af
ternoon, a tall raw-boned man called me to the
door : immediately collaring me with one hand,
and holding a cart-whip over my head with the
other, with fury in his face, he vowed he would
whip the skin from my bones if ever I struck Jo*
tham again : ay, he would do it that very moment,
if he was not afraid I would take the law of him.
This was the only instance of the overwhelming
gratitude of parents I received. The next day it
was reported all over town what a cruel man the
master was. " Poor Jotham came into school,
half frozen and near fainting ; master had been
*itting a whole hour by the warm fire ; he only
begged him to let him warm himself a little,
when the master rose in a rage, and cut open his
head with the tongs, and his life was despair
ed of."
Fatigued with the vexations of my school, I
one evening repaired to the tavern, and mixed
with some of the young men of the town. Their
conversation I could not relish ; mine they could
not comprehend. The subject of race-horses be
ing introduced, I ventured to descant upon Xan-
thus, the immortal courser of Achilles. They
had never heard of squire Achilles or his horse ;
but they offered to bet two to one that Bajazet,
the Old Roan, or the deacon s mare, Pumpkin
and Milk, would beat him, and challenged me t<?
appoint time and place*
ALGER1NE CAPTIVE. 3
Nor was I more acceptable among the young
women. Being invited to spend an evening, after
a quilting, I thought this a happy opportunity
to introduce Andromache, the wife of the great
Hector, at her loom ; and Penelope, the faithful
wife of Ulysses, weaving her seven years web.
This was received with a stupid stare, until I
mentioned the long time the queen of Ulysses
was weaving ; when a smart young woman de
served, that she supposed miss Penelope s yarn
was rotten in whitening, that made her so long :
and then told a tedious story of a piece of cotton
and linen she had herself woven, under the same
circumstances. She had no sooner finished, than,
to enforce my observations, I recited above forty
lines of Greek from the Odyssey, and then be
gan a dissertation on the ccesura. In the midst of
my harangue, a florid-faced young man at the
further end of the room, with two large promi
nent foreteeth, remarkably white, began to sing,
" Fire upon the mountains ! run, boys, run . "
and immediately the whole company rushed for
ward to see who should get a chance in the reel
of six.
I was about retiring, fatigued and disgusted,
when it was hinted to me, that I might wait on
miss Mima home ; but as I could recollect no
word in the Greek which would construe into
bundling, or any of Homer s heroes who got the
bag, I declined. In the Latin, it is true, that ^Ene
as and Dido, in the cave, seem something like a
precedent It was reported all over the town
36 ALGEKtMi CAPTIVE.
the next day, that master was a papisk, as he had
talked French two hours.
Disappointed of recreation among the young,
my next object was the minister. Here I expec
ted pleasure and profit. He had spent many years
in preaching for the edification of private fami
lies, and was settled in the town in a fit of enthu
siasm ; when the people drove away a clergyman,
respectable for his years and learning. This he
was pleased to call an awakening. He lectured
me at the first onset for not attending the confe
rence and night meetings ; talked much of gifts,
and decried human learning as carnal and devilish ;
and well he might, he certainly was under no ob
ligations to it; for a new singing master coming
into town, the young people, by their master s ad
vice, were for introducing Dr. Watts s version of
the Psaims. Although I argued with the minister
an hour, he remains firmly convinced to this day,
that the version of Sternhold and Hopkins is the
same in language, letter, and metre, with those
psalms king David chanted in the city of Jerusa
lem.
As for the independence I had founded on my
friges, it vanished like the rest of my scholastic
prospects. I had contracted some debts. My re
quest for present payment was received with as
tonishment. I found I was not to expect it until
the next autumn, and then not in cash, but pro
duce ; to become my own collector, and pick up
my dues, half a peck of corn or rye in a place.
,. I was almost distracted, and yearned for the ex
pi ration of my contract* when an unexpected pe~
: od was put to my distress. News \vas brought,
ALGERINE CAPTIVE. 37
that, by the carelessness of the boys, the school-
house was burrit down. The common cry now
was, that I ought in justice to pay for it, as to my
want of proper government the carelessness of the
boys ought to be imputed. The beating of Jo-
tbam was forgotten, and a thousand stories of my
want of proper spirit circulated. These reports,
and even the loss of a valuable Gradus ad Parnas-
sum, did not damp my joy. I am sometimes led
to believe, that my emancipation from real slavery
in Algiers did not afford me sincerer joy than I
experienced at that moment.
I returned to rny father, who received me with
kindness. My mother heard the story of my dis
comfitures with transport ; as she said she had no
doubt that her dream about my falling into tLe
hands of savages was now out.
CHAP. VIII.
Search then the ruling passion,
POPE*
ARGUMENf.
A sure Mode of discovering the Bent of a young
Man s Genius.
I ABODE at home the remainder of the winter.
It was determined that 1 should pursue one of the
learned professions ; my father, with parental pride
and partiality, conceiving my aversion to labour,
my inattention to farming business, and the tricks
4
ALGER1NE CAPTIVE.
I had played him the preceding season, as the
;ure indications of genius. He now told the story
of the putrefied heifer with triumph ; as he had rea"d
in the news-papers, that playing with paper kites
was the foundation of doctor Franklin s fame ; that
.John Locke, who dissected the human mind, and
discovered the circulation of the soul, had, in the
full exercise of his understanding, played at duck
and drake on the Thames with his gold watch,
while he gravely returned the pebble-stone which
he held in his other hand into his fob ; and that
the learned sir Isaac Newton made soap bladders
with the funk of a tobacco pipe, and was ever af
ter, so enamoured with his sooty funk, as to make
use of the delicate finger of a young lady he court
ed, as a pipe-stopper.
I was allowed the choice of my profession, to
discover the bent of my genius. By the advice
of a friend, my father put into my hands what he
was told were some of the prime books in the sev
eral sciences. In divinity, I read ten faneral, five
election, three ordination, and seventeen farewell
sermons, Bunyan s Holy War, the Life of Colo
nel Gardner, and the Religious Courtship. In law,
the Statutes of New Hampshire, and Burn s Jus
tice abridged. In physic, Buchan s Family Phy
sician, Culpepper s Midwifery, and Turner Sur
gery. The agreeable manner in which this last
author relates his own wonderful cures, the live?
of his patients, and his remarkable dexterity in
extracting a pound of candles from the arm of a
wounded soldier ; the spirited horse, the neat lit
tle saddle bags, and tipped bridle of our own doc
tor, determined me in favour of physic, My fc-
CAPTIVE.
ther did not oppose my choice. He only dryly
observed, that he did not kno\v what pretensions
our family had to practice physic, as he could not
learn that we had ever been remarkable for kil
ling any but Indians.
CHAT. IX.
He from thick films shall purge the visual ray,
And on the sightless eye-ball pour the day.
POPE.
ARGUMENT.
The Author commences the Study of Physic with &
celebrated Physician and Oculist A philosoph
ical Detail of the Operation of Couching for
the Gutta Serena, by his Preceptor, upon a young
Man born blind.
THE next spring I entered upon my studies with
a physician, not more justly celebrated for his
knowledge of the materia medica, than for his pe
culiar dexterity and success in couching for the
gutta serena, and restoring persons, even born
blind, to sight. The account of a cure he per
formed, after I had been with him about a year,
may not be unacceptable to the lovers of natural
research. The subject was a young man of twen
ty-two years of age, of a sweet disposition, ami
able manners, and opulent connexions. He was
born stone blind, j-is blindness was in some
measure compensated by the attention of his
friends, and the increased power of his other or
gans of perception. His brothers and sisters en
40 ALGERINE CAPTIVE.
riched his mind by reading to him, in succession,
two hours every day, from the best authors. His
sense of feeling was astonishingly delicate, and his
hearing, if possible, more acute. His senses of
taste and smelling were not so remarkable. After
the customary salutation of shaking hands with a
stranger, he would know a person by the touch of
the same hand several years after, though absent
in the interim. He could read a book or news
paper, newly printed, tolerably well, by tracing,
with the tip of his finger, the indents of the types.
He acquired a knowledge of the letters of the
alphabet early from the prominent letters on the
gingerbread alphabets of the baker. He was
master of music, and had contrived a board, perfo*
rated with many gimblet holes, and with the assist
ance of a little bag of wooden pegs, shaped at
top according to his directions, he could prick al
most any tune, upon its being sung to him. When
in a large company, who sat silent, he could dis
tinguish how many persons were present, by not
ing, with his ear, their different manner of breath^
ing. By the rarity or density of the air, not per
ceivable by those in company, he could distinguish
high ground from low ; and by the motion of the
summer s breeze, too small to move the loftiest leaf,
he would pronounce whether he was in a wood or
open country.
He was an unfeigned believer in the salutary
truths of Christianity. He had imbibed its bene
volent spirit. When he spoke of religion, his .lan
guage was love to God, and good will to man.
He was no zealot, but when he talked of the won
ders of creation, he was animated with a glow of
ALGERINE CAPTIVE. .41
enthusiasm. You observed, the other day, as we
were walking on this plain, my friend addressing
himself to me, as I was intimate in the family,
that you knew a certain person by his gait, when
at so great a distance that you could not discern
his features. From this you took occasion to ob-
seive, that you saw the master-hand of the great
Creator in the obvious difference that was between
man and man : not only the grosser difference be
tween the Indian, the African, the Esquimeaux,
#nd the white man ; but that which distinguishes
and defines accurately men of the same nation,
and even children of the same parents. You ob
served, that as all the children of the great family
of the earth were compounded of similar mem
bers, features, and lineaments, how wonderfully
it displayed the skill of the Almighty Artist to
model such an infinite variety of beings, and dis
tinctly diversify them, from the same materials.
You added, that the incident you had noticed gave
fresh instance of admiration ; for you was now
convinced that if even all men had been formed
of so near resemblance as not to be discerned from
each other when at rest, yet when in motion, from
their gait, air, and manner, they might readily be
distinguished. While you spoke, I could perceive
that you pitied me as being blind to a wonderful
operation of creative power. I too, in my turn,
could triumph. J31ind as I am, I have discovered
a still minuter, but as certain a distinction between
the children of men, which has escaped the touch
of your eyes. Bring me five men, perfect stran
gers to me ; pair the nails of the same finger so
as to be even with the fingers ends ; let me touch,
4*
42 ALGERIXE CAPTIVE.
with the tip of my finger, the nails thus prepared :
tell me each person s name as he passes in contact
before me ; bring the same persons to me one
month afterwards with their nails paired in the
same manner, and I will call every one by his
right name. For be assured, my friend, that Art
ist who has denied to me that thing called light,
hath opened the eyes of my mind, to know that
there is not a greater difference between the Afri
can and the European, than what 1 could discov
er between the finger-nails of all the men of this
world. This experiment he afterwards tried with
uniform success. It was amusing, in a gayer hour,
to hear him argue the superiority of the touch to
the sight. Certainly, the feeling is a nobler sense
than that you call sight. 1 inter it from the care
nature has taken of the former, and her disregard
to the latter. The eyes are comparatively poor,
puny, weak organs. A small blow, a mote, or a
straw, may reduce those who see with them to a
situation as pitiable as mine, while feeling is dif
fused over the whole body. Cut off my arm, and
a sense of feeling remains. Completely dismem
ber me, and while I live I possess it. It is co
existent with life itself.
The senses of smelling and taste are but mod
ifications of this noble sense, distinguished, through
the inaccuracy of men, by other names. The fla
vour of the most delicious morsel is felt by the
tongue ; and, when we smell the aromatic, it is
the- effluvia of the rose which comes in contact
with the olfactory nerves. You that enjoy sight
inadvertently confess its inferiority. My brother,
honing his penknife the other day, passed it over
;\LGEtlIKE CAPTIVE. 43
bis thumb nail to discover if the edge was smooth.
I heard him, and inquired why he did not touch
it with his eyes, as he did other objects. He con
fessed that he could not discover the gaps by the
sight. Here the superiority of the most inaccu
rate seat of the feeling was manifest. To con
clude, he would archly add in marriage, the
most important concern in life, how many misera
ble of both sexes, are left to deplore in tears their
dependance on this treacherous thing called sight.
From this danger I am happily secured, contin
ued he smiling and pressing the hand of his cous
in who sat beside him a beautiful blooming
young woman of eighteen, who had been bred
with him from childhood, and whose affection for
him was such, that she was willing, notwithstand
ing his blindness, to take him as a partner for
life. They expected shortly to be married. Not
withstanding his accuracy and veracity upon sub
jects he could comprehend, there were many on
which he was miserably confused. He called
sight the touch of the eyes. He had no adequate
idea of colours. White, he supposed, was like
the feeling of down ; and scarlet he resembled to
the sound of martial music. By passing his hand*
over the porcelain, earthern, or plaster of Paris
images, he could readily conceive that they were
representations of men or animals. But he could
have no idea of pictures. I presented him a large
picture of his grandfather, painted with oil-colours
on canvass ; told him whose resemblance it was ;
he passed his hand over the smooth surface and
mused : he repeated this, exclaimed it was won
44 AL.GER1NE CAPTIVE.
derful, looked melancholy, but never asked lor the
picture again.
Upon this young man, my preceptor operated
successfully. 1 was present during the whole pro
cess, though few were admitted. Upon the intro
duction of the couching instrument, and the remo
val of the film from the retina, he appeared con
fused. When the operation was completed, and
he was permitted to look around him, he was vi
olently agitated. The irritability of the ophthal
mic muscles faintly expressed the perturbation of
his mind. After two-and-twenty years of total
darkness, to be thus awakened to a new world of
sensation and light, to have such a flood of day
poured on his benighted eye-balls, overwhelmed
him : the infant sight was too weak for the shock,
and he fainted. The doctor immediately inter
cepted the light with the proper bandages, and, by
the application of volatiles, he was revived. The
next day the dressings were removed : he had for
tified his mind and was more calm. At first he
appeared to have lost more than he had gained
by being restored to vision. When blind, he
could walk tolerably well in places familiar to him.
From sight, he collected no ideas of distance.
Green was a colour peculiarly agreeable to the
new-born sight. Being led to a window, he was
charmed with a tree in full verdure, and extended
his arms to touch it, though at ten rods distance.
To distinguish objects within reach, he would close
his eyes, feel for them with his hands, and then
look earnestly upon them.
According to a preconcerted plan, the third day
fijs bandages were removed, in the presence of hie.
ALGERINE CAPTIVE, 46
parents, brothers, sisters, friends, and of the ami
able lovely girl to whom he was shortly to be mar
ried. By his request, a profound silence was to
be observed, while he endeavoured to discover the
person of her who was the object of his dearest
affection. It was an interesting scene. The com
pany obeyed his injunction. Not a finger moved,
or a breath aspirated. The bandage was then re
moved ; and when he had recovered from the con
fusion of the instant effusion of light, he passed
his eye hastily over the whole group. His sensa
tions were novel and interesting. It was a mo
ment of importance : for aught he knew, he might
find the bosom partner of his future life, the twin
soul of his affection, in the fat scullion wench of
his father s kitchen, or in the person of the tooth
less, palsied, decripit nurse, who held the bason
of gruel at his elbow.
In passing his. eye a second time over the circle,
his attention was arrested by his beloved cousin.
The agitations of her lovely features, and the
evanescent blush on her cheek, would have at
once betrayed her to a more experienced eye.
He passed his eye to the next person, and imme
diately returned it to her. It was a moment big
with expectation. Many a finger was raised to
the lips of the spectators, and many a look expres
sive of the silence she should preserve was cast
towards her. But the conflict was too violent for
her delicate frame. He looked more intensely ;
she burst into tears, and spoke. At the well known
voice he closed his eyes, rushed towards her, and
clasped her i\i his arms. I envied them their feel
ings ; but I thought then, pd do now, that the
/
46 ALGERINE CAPTIVE.
sensations of my preceptor, the skilful humane
operator were more enviable. The man who
could restore life and usefulness to the darling of
his friends, and scatter light in the paths of an
amiable young pair, must have known a joy nev
er surpassed ; except, with reverence be it spoken,
by the satisfaction of our benevolent Saviour,
when, by his miraculous power, he opened the
eyes of the actually blind, made the dumb to sing,
and the lame and impotent leap for joy.
CHAP. X.
Was Milton blind, who pierc d the gloom profound
Of lowest Hades thro seven-fold night
Of shade ; with shade compact, saw the arch fiend
From murky caves, and fathomless abyss,
Collect in close divan his fierce compeers :
Or, with the mental eye, thro awful clouds^
And darkness thick, unveiPd the throne of him
Whose vengeful thunder smote the rebel fiend ?
Was Sanderson^ who to the seeing crowd
Of wond ring pupils taught, sightless himself,
The wond rous structure of the human eye ?
AUTHOR S Manuscript Poems,
ARGUMENT.
Anecdotes of the celebrated Dr. Moyes.
, MENTIONING the subject of the last chapter to the
celebrated doctor Moyes, who, though blind, deliv
ered a lecture upon optics, and delineated the
properties of light and shade, to the Bostonians in
the year 1785, he exhibited a nwe astonishing
illustration of the iw>vcr of the touch. v A highly
ALGERINE fAYTIVE. 47
polished plane of steel was presented to him, witb
a stroke of an etching tool so minutely engraved
upon it that it was invisible to the naked eye, and
only discoverable with a powerful magnify ing glass ;
with his fingers he discovered the extent, and
measured the length of the line.
This gentleman lost his sight at three years of
age. He informed me, that being overturned in
a stage-coach one dark rainy evening in England,
when the carriage and four horses were thrown into
a ditch, the passengers and driver, with two eyes
apiece, were obliged to apply to him who had
none for assistance in extricating the horses. As
for me, said he, after 1 had recovered from the as
tonishment of the fall, and discovered that 1 had
escaped unhurt, I was quite at home in the dark
ditch. The inversion of the order of tilings wa s
amusing. I, that was obliged to be led like a
child in the glaring sun, was now directing eight
persons to pull here and haul there, with all the
dexterity and activity of a man-of-war*s boat,
CHAP. XL
None are so surely caught, when they are catch VI,
As Wit turned Fool : Folly, in Wisdom hatch d
I lath Wisdom s warrant, and the help of school;
And Wit s own grace, to grace a learned fool.
SHAKSPEARR
ARGUMENT.
1 he 3 uikor spouleth Greek in a Sea-port 7fc
Deception among the Polite He attempteth an
Ode in the Style of the Ancients.
( PASSED my time very agreeably with my precep-
or ; though I could not help being astonished thai
48 ALGERINC CAPTIVE.
i man of his acknowledged learning should not
sometimes quote Greek. Of my acquirements in
that language I was still proud. I attribute the
indifference with which it was received in the
town where I had kept school to the rusticity and
ignorance of the people. As I now moved in the
circles of polished life, I ventured sometimes, when
the young ladies had such monstrous colds as that
they could not by the earnest persuasions of the
company be prevailed on to sing, and when it had
been frequently observed that it was quaker meet
ing, to spout a few lines from the Iliad. It is true
they did not interrupt me with
" Fire upon the mountains ! run, boys, run !"
but the most sonorous lines of the divine blind bard
were received with cold approbation of politeness.
One young lady alone seemed pleased. She would
frequently ask me to repeat those lines of VVabash
poetry ; though once, in the sublime passage of the
hero Ulysses hanging fifty young maidens with his
own hands, in the Odyssey, I heard the term pe
dant pronounced with peculiar emphasis by a beau
at my back. If I had taken the hint, and passed my
Greek upon my companions for Indian, they would
have heard me with rapture. I have since known
that worthy indefatigable missionary to the Indians,
t^e reverend Mr. K , the modern Elliot enter
taining the same companies, for whole evenings,
with speeches in the aboriginal language of Amer
ica, as unintelligible to them as was my insulted
Greek.
I was so pleased with the young lady who appro
ved trm Greek heroic!?, that I determined to makr
ALGERINE CAPTIVE. 49
my first essay in metre in an ode addressed to her
by name. I accordingly mustered all the higk
sounding epithets of the immortal Grecian bard,
and scattered them with profusion through my ode.
I praised her golden locks, and assimilated her
to the ox-eyed Juno ; sent her a correct copy, and
dispersed a number of others among her friends. I
afterwards found, that what I intended as the sub-
limest panegyric was received as cutting insult,
The golden tresses, and the ox-eyed epithet, the
most favourite passages in my poem, were very un
fortunate ; as the young lady was remarkable for
very prominent eyes, which resembled what, in
horses are called wall-eyes. Her hair was what
is vulgarly called carroty ; its unfashionable col
our she endeavoured in vain to conceal by the
daily use of a leaden comb.
CHAP. XII.
Honour s a sacred tie, the law of king!?,
The noble mind s distinguished perfection,
Which aids and strengthens virtue where it meets her,
And imitates her actions where she s not.
ADDISON.
ARGUMENT.
The Author in imminent Danger of his Life I M,
Duel.
THE very next morning after I had presented my
ode, and before I had heard of its reception, a young
gentleman, very genteelly dressed, entered our
drug room, where I was compounding a cathartic
5
50 ALGERINE CAPTIVE.
w4th my spatula ; and, with a very stately air,
inquired for Mr. Updike Underbill. Upon being
informed that I was the person, with two of the
most profound bows I had ever seen, he advanced
towards me, and, with slow and solemn emphasis,
said, " Then, sir, I have the honour to present you
with a billet from my friend, Mr. Jasper T ,"
and bowed twice, as stately and low as before. I
took the letter, which was as big as a government
packet ; and, in the midst of a large folio sheet,
read the following letter, from Mr. Jasper T ,
a professed admirer of the young lady to whom I
had addressed my ode after the manner of the
Greeks.
" DEAR SIR,
" Them there very extraordinary pare of varses
you did yourself the onner to address to a young
lada of my partecling acquaintance calls loudly for
explination. I shall be happy to do myself the
onner of wasting a few charges of powder with you
on the morro morning precisely at one half hour
before sun rose at the lower end of wharf.
" Dear Sir, I am with grate parsonal esteem
your sincere friend, ardent admirer well wisher
and umble servant to command,
" JASPER T .
:K
"" Please to be punctual to the hour seconds if
you incline.
" July 24th 1782. Thursday A. M. ante
merry dying,
ALGERINE
Though I was engaged to watch that night with
one of my preceptor s customers, yet, as Mr. Jas
per T seemed so friendly and civil, I could
not find it in my heart to refuse him, and replied,
that I would, with pleasure, wait upon the gentle
man. " Sir," resumed the bearer, " you are a
man of honour, every inch of you, and I am your
most obedient, most obsequious, and most humblp
servant :" and then, making two profound bows
in the shop, and one more at the door, he retired,
He was no sooner departed, than I sat down to re-
peruse this elegant and very extraordinary billet.
I had no particular acquaintance with Mr. Jasper
T -, and why he should write to me at all puz
zled me. The first part of the letter, I doubted
not, contained an approbation of my ode, and a
request to be indulged with an explanation of
some of its peculiar beauties. I began to recol
lect illustrations and parodies from some favourite
passages in the s lliad. But what we were to do in
wasting a few charges of powder was utterly inex
plicable. At one time, indeed, I thought it an
invitation to shoot partridges, and bethought my
self of scouring a long-barrelled gun, which had
descended like an heir, loom in our family ; and
had perhaps killed Indians on Long Island, in
the hands of my brave ancestor, captain John
Underbill. Then again I reflected, that the low-
er end of a wharf, in a populous town, was not
the most prjfcable place to spring a covey of par
tridges. But what puzzled me most was his punc
tual attention to hours, and even seconds. My
doubts were all clearejl by the entrance of a fellow
to whom I communicated the letter. He
$2 ALCERINE CAPTIVE.
was born at Carolina, and understood the whole
business. " It is a challenge," said he. A chal
lenge !" exclaimed I. " For what ?" " Why on
ly," repeated he coolly, " to fight a duel with
Mr. Jasper T - with sword and pistol." " Pho !"
replied I, " you banter. Do look at the conclusion
of the letter. Will you make me believe that any
man in his senses would conclude with all these
expressions of esteem and friendship an invita-
tion to give him an opportunity of cutting my
throat, or blowing my brains out ?" " You have
been bred in yankee land," replied my fellow-
student. " Men of honour are above the common
rules of propriety and common sense. This letter,
which is a challenge, bating some little inaccura
cies of grammar and spelling, in substance, I assure
you, would not disgrace a man of the highest hon
our ; and, if Mr. Jasper T acts as much the
man of honour on the wharf as he has on paper, he
will preserve the same style of good breeding and
politeness there also. While, with one hand, he
with a deadly longe, passes his sword through
your lungs, he will take his hat off with the other,
and bow gracefully to your corps." " Lord de
liver me from such politeness !" exclaimed L " It
seems to me, by your account of things, that the
principal difference between a man of honour and
a vulgar murderer is, that the latter will kill you
in a rage, while the former will write you com
plaisant letters, and smile in your fafee, and bow
gracefully while he cuts your throat. Honour or
no honour, I am plaguy sorry I accepted his in
vitation." " Come," continued my fellow student,
* you consider thjjjlittle affair too seriously. {
CAPTIVE. j3
:r^st instruct you. There is no more danger in
these town duels than in pounding our great mortar.
Why, I fought three duels myself in Carolina be
fore I was seventeen years old ; and one was for
an affront offered to the negro wench who suckled
me : and I declare 1 had rather fight ten more,
than pass once, in a stage waggon, over Horse
Neck. 1 see your antagonist has offered you to
bring a second. I will go with you. When you
arrive on the ground, we seconds shall mark out
your position to stand in ; and to be sure, as in
case of bloodshed we shall come into difficulty,
we shall place you at a pretty respectable distance.
You will then turn a copper for the first fire ;
but I should advise you to grant it to him. This
will give him a vast idea ot your firmness and con
tempt of danger. Your antagonist, with banish
ment from his country, and the gallows staring
him in the face, will be sure not to hit you, on
his own accouht. The ball will pass at least ten
rods over your head. You must then discharge
your pistol in the air, and offer him to fire again ,
as, in the language of the duellist, you will have
given him hisliie, so it will be highly inconsistent
in him to again attemp^vours.. We seconds shall
immediately interfere, and pronounce you both
men of honour. The matter jn controversy will
be passed over ; you will shake hands, commence
warm friends, and the ladies will adore you.
Oh, Updik^t you are a lucky fellow J" I cannot
think," said 1, Why .Mr. Jaspjer T should
have such bloody designs against me. I never
intended to affront the young lady." " Lisp not
a woi:l of thai," replied my^jjltructor, " as you
<34 ALGERINE CAPTIVE.
value your reputation on change. When he has
fired over your head, you may confess what you
please with honour ; but, however inoffensive
you may have been, if you make such a confession
before, you are a man of no honour. You will be
posted in the coffee-house for a coward." Not
withstanding the comfortable address of my friend,
the thoughts of a premature death, or being crip
pled for life, distressed me. Nor was the fear
of killing my antagonist, and of what my poor
parents would suffer from my being exposed to in
famous punishment, less alarming. 1 passed some
hours of dreadful anxiety ; when I was relieved
from my distress in a way I little apprehended.
My challenger, who had lived some years in
town as a merchant s clerk, viewing me as a raw
lad from the country that would never dare accept
his challenge, when his messenger returned \|as
petrified with astonishment. When assured that I
had excepted his challenge as a man of courage
and honour, his heart died within him. His friend
had no sooner gone to prepare the pistols, than,
by communicating the business as a great secret
to two or three female friends, the intended duel
was noised about town. XJie justices, select-men,
and grand-jurors, convened. Warrants were is
sued, and constables dispatched into all quarters.
I was apprehended in the sick man s chamber,
where I was watching, by the high-sheriff, two de
puties, three constables, and eleven stoift assistants ,
carried, in the dead of the night, before the Magi
strates, where I met rny antagonist, guarded by
a platoon of the naijitia, with a colonel at their
head. We were Affected to shake hands, make
tAPTIVE.
friends, and pronounce, on our honours, that we
would drop an affair which we had neither of us
any heart to pursue. My acceptance of the chal
lenge, however unintentional, established my repu
tation among the bucks and belles. The former
pronounced me a man of spunk and spirit; and
the latter were proad 01 my arm in an evening ru-
,ral walk on the paved street. None dared to call
ine pedant ; and I verily believe that, if I had
spouted a whok Iliad in the ball-room, no one
would have ventured to interrupt me ; for I had
myself a man of honour.
CHAP. XIII.
The flower of learning, and the bloom of \vit.
YOUNG.
ARGUMENT.
,17 C Author is happy in the Acquaintance of a lear
ned Lady.
IN the circle of my acquaintance there was a young
lady, of not the most promising person, and of rath
er a vinegar aspect, who was approximating to
wards thirty years of age ; though, by avoiding
married parties, mingling with very young com
pany, dressing airily, shivering in lawn and sarce
net at the meeting house in December, affecting a
girlish lisp, blush, and giggle, she was still endea
vouring to ward off that invidious appellation of
old maid. Upon good grounds I am led to believe
"hat the charity of the tea-table had added to her
; because, from a long acquaintance with
f)6 A.LCERINE CArTlVIv,
her, I could never induce her to remember any
event, however trivial, which happened before
Lexington battle. The girls of my age respect
ed me as a man of spirit ; but 1 was more fond of
being esteemed as a man of learning. This young
lady loved literature, and lamented to me her ig
norance of the Greek. I gave her a decided pre
ference to her rivals. SJie borrowed books of me,
and read them with astonishing rapidity. From
my own little library, and from those of my friends,
I procured about sixty volumes for her ; among
which were Locke on Human Understanding,
Stackhcuse s Body of Divinity, and Glass s works,
not on cookery, but the benignant works of John
Glass, the father of Sandimari and the Sandiman-
ians ; in my collection, I did not however omit
Pope s Homer, and Dryden s \ r irgil ; and, to my
astonishment, though I knew that her afternoons
were devoted to the structure of caps and bonnets,
she perused those sixty volumes completely, and
returned them to me in less than a month. There
was one thing peculiarly pleasing to me, as a man
of letters, that she never made dog-leaves, or soiled
the books ; a slovenly practice, of which even
great scholars are sometimes guilty. I would, at
times, endeavour to draw her into a conversation
upon the authors she had recently perused : she
would blush, look down, and say that it did not
become a young girl, like her, to talk upon such
subjects with a gentleman of my sense. The com
pliment it contained ever rendered the apology
irresistible. One day she asked me to lend her a
dictionary. I immediately procured for her the
great doctor Johnson s in two volumes loll.?.
ALliERINE CAPTIVE. 57
About three days afterwards she offered to return
them. Knowing that a dictionary was a work to
which reference was often necessary, and thinking
it might be of some service, even to a lady of her
learning, I pressed her to keep it longer : when she
replied, with the prettiest lisp imaginable, that
they were indeed very pretty story-books ; but,
since I had lent them to her, she had read them all
through twice ; and then inquired, .with the same
gentle lisp, if I could not lend her a book called
Rolling Belly Lettres. I was in absolute astonish
ment. Virgil s traveller, treading on the snake in
the grass, was comparatively in perfect compo
sure. I took a folio under each arm, and skipped
out of the house, as lightly as if I had had nothing
heavier than a late antifederal election sermon to
carry. This learned young lady was amazingly
affronted at my abrupt departure ; but, when the
cause of it was explained to her, some months af
ter, she endeavdured to persuade a journeyman
tailor, who courted her niece, to challenge me to
fight a duel : he actually penned a challenge up
on one of his master s pasteboard patterns ; and I
verily believe would have sent it by his second,
if he had not been informed that my character
was established as a man of hoceur.
ALGERINE CAPTIVE
CHAP. XIV.
A Babylonish dialect,
Which learned pedants much affect.
HUDIBRAS*
ARGUMENT.
The Author quitteth the Study of Gallantry for that,
of Physic He eulogiseth the Greek Tongue , and
complimenteth the Professors of Cambridge , Yale,
and Dartmouth ; and giveth a gentle Hint to
careless Readers.
BISGUSTED with the frivolity of the young and the
deceit of the antiquated ladies, I no\v applied my
self sedulously to my studies. Cullen, Munroe,
Boerhaave, and Hunter, were my constant com
panions. As I advanced in valuable science, my
admiration of the Greek declined. I now found
that Machaon and Podalirious, the surgeons of Ho
mer, were mere quacks, ignorant of even the appli
cation of plasters, or the eighteen-tailed bandage ;
and, in botany, inferior to the Indian Powwows ;
and that the green ointment of my learned friend
doctor Kitteridge would have immortalized a bone-
setter in the Grecian era, and transmitted him with
Esculapius to a seat among the gods- In justice
to that venerable language, and to the learned pro
fessors of Cambridge, Yale, and Dartmouth, I will
candidly confess, that my knowledge of it was now
in the first year of my apprenticeship of some ser
vice to me, in now and then finding the root of the
labels cyphered on our gallipots. I shall mention
a little incident which happened about this time,
as it contains a lesson valuable to the reader, if ht
ALGERINE CAPTIVE. 5
has penetration enough to discover it, and candour
enough to apply it to himself. Though I applied
myself closely to my books, yet, as hours of re
laxation were recommended by my preceptor, I
sometimes indulged in the dance, and in sleighing
rides. The latter being once proposed to me, at a
time when I was without the means of paying my
club, I had retired with discontent to my ehamber 5
where I accidentally cast my eyes upon a little
old-fashioned duodecirna Bible, with silver clasps,
in the corner of my trunk a present from my mo
ther at parting, who had recommended the frequent
perusal of it, as my guide in difficulty, and con
solation in distress. Young people in perplexity
always think of home. The Bible reproached me.
To remove the uneasy sensation, and for the want
of something more agreeable to do, I took up the
neglected book. No sooner had I unclasped it,
than a guinea dropt from the leaves, which had
been deposited there by the generous care of my
affectionate mother ; and, by my inexcusable in
attention, had lain there undiscovered for more than
two years. I hastily snatched the brilliant prize,
joined my young companions, and resolved that, in
gratitude, 1 would read a chapter in the Bible eve
ry remaining day of my life. This resolution I then
persevered in a whole fortnight., Whilst I am on
this subject, I will observe, thotJgh no zealot, I
have since, in the hours of misery and poverty,
with which the reader shall be acquainted in the
sequel, drawn treasures of support and consolation
from that blessed book, more precious than the
gems of Golconda, or the gold of Ophir.
60 ALGERINE CAPTIVE.
CHAP. XV.
. Well skffl d
In every virtuous plant and healing herb
That spreads her verdant leaf to tfr morning ray.
MILTON S COMUS.
ARGUMENT.
The Author panegyrises his Preceptor.
IN June, 1785, I completed my studies. My en*
lightened generous preceptor presented me with a
Dispensatory, Cullen s First Lines, and an elegant
shagreen case of pocket surgical instruments. As
it is possible that some friend of his may peruse
this work, suffer me to pay him a little tribute of
gratitude. He was an unaffected gentleman, and
a man of liberal science. In him were united the
acute chymist, the accurate botanist, the skilful
operator, and profound physician. He possessed
all the essence, without the parade of learning.
In the most simple language, he would trace the
latent disease to its diagnostic ; and, from his lips.
subjects the most abstruse were rendered familiar
to the unlettered man. Excepting when he was
with his pupils, or men of science, I never heard
him use a technical term. He observed once, that
the bold truth of Paracelsus delighted him, but it
partook so much of the speech of our country prac-
titioners, that he was disgusted with the pomposity
of Theophrastus Bombastus. He was both an in
structor and parent to his pupils an instructor ia
all the depth of science he possessed, and a tender
parent in directing them in the paths of virtue and
s. May he long live to bless bis country
ALGERINE CAPTIVE.
with the healing art! and may he be hereafter
blest himself in that world which will open new
sources of intelligence to his inquiring mind !
CHAP. XVI.
The lady Baussiere rode on.
TRISTRAM SHANDY,
ARGUMENT.
Doctor Underhill visiteth Boston, and maketh no
Remarks.
HAVING collected some small dues for professional
services rendered certain merchants and lawyers
clerks, I concluded to make a short tour to Boston,
for the purpose of purchasing a few medical au
thors and drugs^ I carried letters of introduction
from my preceptor to the late Dr. Joseph Gard
ner, and other gentlemen of the faculty. The
wit and wine of this worthy man still relish on re
collection. The remarks I made upon this hospit
able, busy, national, town-born people ; my ob
servations upon their manners, habits, local virtues,
customs, and prejudices ; the elocution of their
principal clergymen ; with anecdotes of public
characters I deal not in private foibles ; and a
comparative view of their manners at the begin
ning and near the close of the eighteenth century,
are pronounced by the partiality of some friends
to be original, and, to those who know the town,
highly interesting. If this homespun history of
private life shall be approved, these remarks
6
62 ALGER1NE CAPTIVE.
will be published by themselves in a future edi
tion of this work. I quitted Boston with great
reluctance, having seventeen invitations to dinner,
besides tea-parties, on my hands.
CHAP. XV1L
-A hornet s sting,
And all the wonders of an insect s wing.
MRS* BARBAULD U
ARGUMENT.
The Author inspects the Museum at Harvard Col
lege Account of the wonderful Curiosities, nat
ural and artificial he saw there.
ON my return, 1 passed through Cambridge ; and,
by the peculiar politeness and urbanity of the then
librarian, I inspected the college museum. Here,
to my surprise, I found the curiosities of all coun
tries but our own. When I inquired for the nat
ural curiosities of New England, with specimens
of the rude arts, arms and antiquities of the ori
ginal possessors of our soil, I was shown for the
former an overgrown gourd shell, which held I do
not recollect how many gallons : some of the shav
ings of the cannon, cast under the inspection of
colonel M ; a stuffed wild duck, and the cu
rious fungus of a turnip: and for the latter, a
miniature birch canoe, containing two or three rag
aboriginals with paddles cut from a shingle. This
last article, 1 confess, would not disgrace the baby-
house of a child, if he was not above seven years
of age. To be more serious, I felt then for the
ALGERINE CAPTIVE. 63
reputation of the first seminary of our land. Sup
pose a Raynal or Buffon should visit us, repair to
the museum of the university, eagerly inquiring
after the natural productions and original antiqui
ties of our country, what must be the sensations
of the respectable rulers of the college, to be obli
ged to produce to them these wretched bauble spe
cimens ?
CHAP. XVIII.
Asclepiades boasted that he had articled with For
tune not to be a physician.
RABELAIS.
ARGUMENT.
The Author mounteth his Nag, and setteth out full
speed to seek Practice, Fam* 9 and Fortune, as a
Country Practitioner.
IN the autumn of 1785 I returned to my parents,
who received me with rapture. My father had
reared for me a likely pie- bald mare. Our sad
dler equipped me with horse furniture, not forget
ting the little saddle-bags, which T richly replen
ished with drugs purchased at Boston. With a
few books, and my surgeon s instruments in my
portmanteau, and a few dollars in my pocket, I sat
out, with a light heart, to seek practice, fame,
and fortune, as a country practitioner.
My primary object was to obtain a place of
settlement. This 1 imagined an easy task, from
my own acquirements and the celebrity of my
preceptor. My first stop was at a new township,
yet tolerably well stocked with a hardy laborious
34 ALGERINE CAPTITE.
set of inhabitants. Five physicians of eminence
had within a few years attempted a settlement in
this place. The first fell a sacrifice to strong li
quor ; the second put his trust in horses, and was
ruined by the loss of a valuable sire ; the third
quarrelled with the midwife, and was obliged to
remove ; the fourth, having prescribed rather un
luckily for a young woman of his acquaintance,
grievously afflicted with a tympany, went to the
Ohio ; and the last, being a prudent man, who
sold his books and instruments for wild land, and
raised his own crop of medicine, was actually in
the way of making a great fortune ; for, in only
ten year s practice, he left at his decease, an es
tate both real and personal, which was appraised
at one hundred pounds, lawful money. This ac
count was not likely to engage the attention of a
young man upon whose education twice the sum
had been expended.
In the next town I was assured I might do well
as a physician, if I would keep a grog-shop, or let
myself as a labourer in the hay season, and keep
a school in the winter. The first part of the pro
position 1 heard with patience ; but, at the bare
mention of a school, I fled the ttywn abruptly. In
the neighbouring town they did not want a phy
sician,, as an experienced itinerant doctor visited
the place every March, when the people had most
leisure to be sick and take physic. He practiced
with great success, especially in slow consump
tions, charged very low, and took his pay in any
ihing and every thing. Besides, he carried a
mould with him, to run pewter spoons, and was
equally good at mending a kettle and a constilu^
ALGERlls K CAFrra:. 65
CHAP. XIX.
Here phials in nice discipline are set.
There gallipots are rang d in alphabet :
In this place, magazines of pills you spy ;
In that, like forage, herbs in bundles lie ;
While lifted pestles, brandish d in the air,
Descend in peals, and civil wars declare.
GARTH.
ARGUMENT.
The Author encountereth Folly, Ignorance, Impu
dence, Imbecility* and Quacks The Character
of a learned, a cheap, a safe, and a musical
Doctor.
AT length I fixed my residence in a town where
four physicians were already in full practice, of
such contrariety in theory, that I never knew any
two of them agree in any practice but in abus
ing me and decrying my skill. It was however
four months before I had any practice, except the
extracting of a tooth from a corn-fed girl, who
spun at my lodgings, and who used to look wist
fully at me, and ask, if the doctorer did not think
the tooth-ache a sign of love ? and say she felt
dreadfully all over : and the application of a
young virgin in the neighbourhood, who wished
to be favoured with a private lecture upon the vir
tues of the savin bush. I verily believe I might
have remained there to this day unemployed, if
my landlord, a tavern keeper, finding my pay
ment for board rather tardy, had not by sometimes
sending his boy in violent haste to call me out of
meeting, and always vowing I was acute at the
6*
66 ALGERINE CAPTIVE.
trade, at length drawn the attention of the people
towards me.
I had now some opportunity of increasing my
information, by inspecting the practice of my sen
iors. The principal physician had been regular
ly educated : as I ha^ been so likewise, he affec
ted to pay me some attention on purpose to mor
tify those three quacks, who, he said, had picked
tip their knowledge, as they did their medicine,
by the way-side. He was a very formal man in
manners and practice,. He thought fresh air high
ly noxious in all diseases. I once visited a patient
of his, in dog-days, whose parched tongue and
acrid skin denoted a violent fever. I was almost
suffocated upon entering the room. The windows
were closed, and the cracks stuffed with tow ; the
curtains were drawn close round the patient s bed,
which was covered with a rug, and three comfort
able blankets ; a large fire was made in the room ;
the door listed, and the key-hole stopped ; while
the doctor gravely administered irritating stimu
lants to allay the. fever. He carried a favourite
practical author in his bags ; and after rinding the
patient s case in the index, pulled out a pair of
money scales, and with the utmost nicety, weigh
ed off the prescribed dose to the decimal of a dram.
He told me, as a great secret, that about thirteen
years and one day past, he had nearly destroyed
a patient, by administering half a dram of pill
cochia more than was prescribed in the books. He
was called the learned doctor.
The practice of the second town physician was
directly opposite. He prescribed large doses of
the most powerful drugs. If he had been inclin-
ALGERINE CAPTIVE. 67
ed to weigh his medicine, I believe it would have
been with gross weight rather than troy. He was
an untaught disciple of the English Ratcliffe, care
less, daring, and often succesful. He was admira
ble in nervous cases, rose cancers, and white swel
lings. Upon the first symptoms of these stubborn
disorders, he would drive them, and the subjects
of them to a state of quiescence. He was called
the cheap doctor ; because he always speedily
cured or killed.
The third physician dealt altogether in simples.
The only compound he ever gave, or took, was
buttered flip for a cough. It was said, that, if
he did no good, he never did any harm. He was
called the safe doctor.
The fourth physician was not celebrated for be
ing learned, safe or cheap ; but he had more prac
tice than all the other three together, for he was a
musical* man, &nd well gifted in prayer.
CHAP. XX.
_^_.^ Around bright trophies lay,
Probes, saws, incision knives, and tools to slay.
GARTH..
ARGUMENT.
Sketch of an hereditary Doctor and a literary
Quack Critical Operation in Surgery.
THERE was another gentleman in town, who had
some pretensions to the character of a physician :
* Do not let guitars and fiddles possess thy brain,
gen :!e reader. Musical, as here used, is synony
mous with entertaining or facetious.
63 ALGERINE CAPTIVE.
even the same pretensions as the crowned heads of
Europe have to their wisdom, power, and great
ness. He derived it from his birth ; for he was
the seventh son of a seventh son, and his mother
was a doctress. He did not indeed bear the name
or rank, but I number him with the learned ; as
he was sometimes called to visit a patient at that
critical interesting period, when the other physi
cians had given him over ; but his ordinary prac
tice lay wholly among sheep, horses, and cattle.
He also could boast of astonishing success, and
was as proud and opinionated as the best of them ;
and, fo/ aught I know, it was as instructive to hear
him talk of his ring-bones, wind-galls, and spavins,
as to hear our first physician descant upon his
paroxysms and peripneumony.
Being sent for one day to attend a man whose
leg was said to be broken by a fall from a frame at
a raising, I found, upon my arrival at the patient s,
that a brother of the faculty, from the vicinity, had
arrived before me, and completed the operation.
He was celebrated for his skill in desperate cases ;
and universally allowed to be a man of learning.
He had prescribed^ gill of burnt brandy, with a
pepper-pod in it, to keep # up the patient s spirits
under the operation, andl^ook another himself,
to keep his hand steady. He splintered the frac
tured limb with the bone of two pair of old-fashion
ed stays he had caused to be ript to pieces, and
bound round the leg with all the garters in the
neighbourhood. He bowed gracefully as I enter
ed, and regretted extremely that he had not my
assistance in setting the bones ; and, with a loud
voice, and the most unparalleled assurance, began
ALGE1UNE CAPTIVC, 69
to lay the case before me, and amplify the oper
ation he had performed. Sir, said he, when I
came to view the patient, I had little hopes of
saving his life. 1 found the two lesser bones of
the leg, the musa and the tristis, shivered into a
thousand splinters ; while the larger bone, the
ambobus, had happily escaped unhurt. Perceiv
ing I could scarce refrain from laughing, and was
about to speak, Sir, said he, winking upon me, I
perceive you are one of us men of science, and
1 wish you to suspend your opinion until a pri
vate consultation, lest our conversation may alarm
the patient too much, for you know, as the learn
ed Galen observes,
Omne quod exit in Hum, sen Graccurn, give La-
tinum, Lsse genus neutvum, sic invariabile nomen-
By the way, nurse, these learned languages arc
apt to make the professors of them very thirsty.
While the todd^ was making, he proceeded :
When I pondered this perilous, piteous, pertina
cious, pestiferous, petrifying case, I immediately
thought of the directions of the learned doctors
Hudibras and M fc Fingal, not forgetting, as the
wound was on the leg, the great Cruikshank s
church history. When we had drunk our liquor,
of which he took four fifths, by his direction a new
mug was made a little stronger, and we retired
to our consultation.
I am much obliged to you, said he, for not
discovering my ignorance to these people ; though
it is ten to one if I had not rather convinced
the block-heads of yours, if you had attempted
it. A regular bred physician, sometime since.
<U ALGERINE CAPTIVE.
attempted this. He declared, over the sick man r s
bed, that I was ignorant and presuming. I repli
ed that he was a quack ; and offered to leave our
pretensions to knowledge to the company, which
consisted of a midwife, two experienced nurses,
ane some others, not so eminent for learning. He
quoted Cullen and Chesselden ; and I Tully and
Virgil : until at length, when 1 had nearly ex
hausted my stock of cant phrases, and he was gain
ing the attention of our judges, I luckily bethought
me of Lilly s Grammar. I began Propria qua3
Maribus ; and, before 1 had got twenty lines, the
opinion of the audience was apparently in my favor.
They judged naturally enough that I was the
most learned man, because the most unintelligible.
This raised the doctor s ire so much, that, from
disputing with me, he turned to berate them for
a parcel of fools, sots, and old women, to put their
Jives in the hands of such an ignoramus as me.
This quickly decided the contest in my favour.
The old nurses raised their voices, the midwife
her broom-stick, and the whole train of mob-cap
ped judges their skinny fists, and we drove him
out of the house in triumph. Our victory was
so complete, that, in the military style, we did
not allow him to remain on the field to bury his
dead.
But it is time to tell you who I am. Sir, I
drink your health. In brief, sir, I am the son
of a respectable clergyman, received a college
education, entered into merchandise, failed, and,
by a train of misfortunes, was obliged to com
mence doctor, for sustenance. I settled myself
in this back country. At first I was applied to
ALGERINE CAPTIVE. / 1
chiefly in desperate cases ; where no reputation
is lost if the patient dies, and much gained if
he recovers. I have performed some surprising
cures ; but how I cannot tell you, except it was
by allowing my patients small beer, or any thing
else they hankered after, which I have heard
was sometimes efficacious in the crisis of a fever.
But talking of drink, sir, I wish your health. I
believe I have never injured any persons by my
prescriptions, as powdered burnt crust, chalk,
and juice of beets and carrots, are rny most pow
erful medicines. We can be of mutual service
to each other. Nurse, another mug. We doc
tors find this a very difficult case. As I have
borne down these country quacks by superiour
effrontery, I can recommend you to full practice.
I will call you to consult with me in difficult
cases ; for, as I was saying, sir, 1 wish your,
good health, mine are all difficult cases ; and you,
in return, shall lend me books, and give me
such instructions as will enable me to do good,
as well as get fame and bread. The proposal
was reasonable. I closed with it. He emptied
the third mug, and we returned to our patient.
When the dressings were removed, I discovered
that there was not the slightest fracture of the fib
ula or tibia ; but only a slight contusion on the pat-
ula, which would perhaps not have alarmed any
other person but our patient, who was a rich old
bachelor. I recommended an emmollient, Which
my learned brother acquisced in, saying, with his
usual air, that it was the very application he in
tended, having applied the garters and whalebone
^ XLGERINE CAPTIVE.
merely to concoct the tristis, the musa, and the
arnbobus, firmly together.
A young girl, at the door, showed him a wound
on her elbow, which she had received in strug
gling about red cars at a husking ; which he grave-
)y pronounced to be a fistula in ano. This gen
tleman is rea ly a man of abilities ; has since
made valuable acquirements in the knowledge of
the human frame, and the materia medica. If
he could be led to substitute the aquatic draughts
of doctor Sangrado, as a succedaneum for the dif
fusible stimuli of Brown, he would become use*
fill in the faculty, and yet see happy days.
The doctor kept his word He read my books,
received my instructions, and recommended me to
his patients. But as I copied my preceptor, in
the simplicity of my language I never attempted
to excite the fear of my patients, to magnjfy my
skill ; and could not reduce three fractured bones
in a limb which contained but two. My advice
was little attended to, except when backed with
that of my pupil, accompanied with frequent quo
tations from Lilly. He obtained all the credit of
our success ; and the people generally supposed
me a young man of moderate talents, whom the
learned doctor might make something of in a
course of years.
CAPTIVE**
CHAP. XXL
For man s relief the healing art was given ;
A wise physician is the boon of heaven.
POPE.
ARGUMENT.
Jl Medical Consultation.
A MERRY incident gave,me a perfect insight into the
practice of the several physicians I have just eu
logised. A drunken jockey, having fallen from
his horse at a public review, was taken up sense
less, and extended upon the long table of the tav
ern. He soon recovered his breath, and groaned
most piteously. As his head struck the ground
first, it was apprehended by some, unacquainted
with its solidity, that he had fractured his skull.
The faculty hastened from all quarters to his as
sistance. The learned scrupulous physician, after
requesting that the doors and windows might be
shut, approached the patient ; and, with a stately
air, declined giving his opinion, as he had unfor
tunately left at home his 4 Pr ingle on Contusions.*
The cheap doctor immediately pronounced the
wound a compound fracture, prescribed half a dose
of crude opium, and called for the trepanning in
struments. The safe doctor proposed brown pa
per, dipped in rum and cobwebs, to staunch the
blood. The popular physician, the musical doc
tor, told Uv a jovial story ; and then suddenly re
laxing his features, observed, that he viewed the
groaning wretch as a monument of justice : that he
7
74 ALGER1NE CAPTIVE*
who spent his days in tormenting horses should
now, by the agency of the same animal, be brought
to death s door, an event which he thought, ought
to be set home upon our minds by prayer. While
rny new pupil, pressing through the crowd, begged
that lie might state the case to the company ; and s
with an audible voice, winking upon me began :
The learned doctor NominativoHoc Caput, in his
treatise on brains, observes, that the seat of the
Houl may be known from the affections of the man.
The residence of a wise man s soul is in his ears ;
a glutton s in his palate ; a gallant s in his lips ;
an old maid s in her tongue ; a dancer s in his
toes ; a drunkard s in his throat : By the way,
landlord, give us a button of sling. When we
learned wish to know if a wound endangers life,
we consequently inquire into the affections of the
patient, and see if the wound injures the seat of
his soul : if that escapes, however deep and ghast
ly the wound, we pronounce life in no danger.
A horse -jockey s soul gentlemen, I wish your
healths is in his heel, under the left spur. When I
was pursuing my studies in the hospitals in Eng
land, I once saw seventeen horse -jockies, some ot
whom were noblemen, killed by the fall of a scaf
fold in Newmarket, and all wounded in the heel.
Twenty others, with their arms, backs, and necks
broken, survived. I saw one noble jockey, with
his nominativo caret, which is Greek for a noble
man s head, split entirely open. His brains ran
down his face like the white of a broken egg ; but
as his heel was unhurt, he survived, and his judg
ment in horses is said not to be the least impair-
ALGERJNE CAPTIVE. <
ed. Come, pull off the patient s boot, while I drink
his better health. Charmed with the harangue,
some of the spectators were about following his
directions, when the other doctors interfered.
They had heard him with disdainful impatience,
and now each raised his voice to support his par
ticular opinion, backed by his adherents. Bring
the brown paper compound fracture cobwebs I
say hand the trepanning instruments give us
some tod, and pull off the boot, echoed from all
quarters. The landlord forbade quarrelling in his
house. The whole company rushed out to form a
ring on the green for the medical professors ; and
they to a consultation of fisty-cuffs. The practi
tioner in sheep, horses, and cattle, poured a dose
of urine and molasses down the patient s throat ;
who soon so happily recovered as to pursue his
vocation, swop horses three times, play twenty
ruboers of all-(ours, and get dead drunk again be
fore sunset.
CHAP. XXII.
To kinder skies, where gentler manners reiga,
We turn - .
GOLDSMITH S TRAVELLER,
ARGUMENT.
Disappointed in the North, the Author seeketh
Treasure in the South.
As my practice increased, my drugs decreased.
\t the expiration of eighteen months, I found my
7$ ALGERINE CAPTIVE.
phials, gallipots, and purse, empty ; and my day
book full of items. To present a doctor s bill
under seven years, or until my patients died (in
which I was not nigh so fortunate as my brother
functionaries,) was complete ruin to my future
practice. To draw upon my father, who had al
ready done for me beyond his ability, was still
worse. I had often heard the southern states
spoken of as the high road to fortune. I was
told that the inhabitants were immensely opulent,
paid high fees with profusion, and were extreme
ly partial to the characteristic industry of their
New England brethren. By the advice of our
attorney, I lodged my accompt-books in his office,
with a general power to collect. He advanced
me a sum sufficient to pay my travelling expen
ses ; and, with my books and surgeon s instruments^
1 sat out in the stage for the southward, condemn*
ing the illiberality and ignorance of our own peo
ple, which prevented the due encouragement of
genius, and made them the prey of quacks ; in
tending after a few years of successful practice, to
return in my own carriage, and close a life of re
putation and independence in my native state*
ALGERIKE CAPTIVE* 77
CHAP. XXIII.
,*_*, y One not vers d in schools,
But strong in sense, and wise without the rules.
POPE.
ARGUMENT.
Anecdotes of Dr. Benjamin Franklin, whom the
Author visits in Philadelphia.
I CARRIED a request to the late Dr. Benjamin
Franklin, then president of the state of Pennsylva
nia, for certain papers J was to deliver further
southward. I anticipated much pleasure from the
interview with this truly great man. To see one,
who, from small beginnings, by the sole exertion
of native genius and indefatigable industry, had
raised himself 4o the pinnacle of politics and let
ters ; a man who, from an humble printer s boy,
had elevated himself to be the desirable compan
ion of the great ones of the earth : who, iioin
trundling a wheelbarrow in bye lanes, had been
advanced to pass in splendour through the courts
of kings : and from hawking vile ballads, to the
contracting and signing treaties, which gave peace
and independence to three millions of his fellow
citizens, was a sight interesting in the extreme.
I found the doctor surrounded by company,
most of whom were young people. He received
me with the attention due to a young stranger.
He dispatched a person for the papers I wanted ;
asked me politely to be seated ; inquired after
78 ALGERINE CAPTIVE.
the family I sprang from ; and told me a pleasing
anecdote of my brave ancestor, captain Underbill.
I found in tbe doctor all that simplicity of lan
guage which is remarkable in the fragment of
his life, published since bis decease, and which
was conspicuous in my Medical Preceptor. I
have since been in a room a few hours with gov
ernor Jay, of New York ; have heard of the hte
governor Livingston, of New Jersey ; and am now
confirmee 1 in the opinion I have suggested, that
men of genuine merit, as they possess the essence,
need not the parade of great knowledge. A rich
man is often plain in his attire ; and the man who
has abundant treasures of learning, simple in his
manners and style.
The doctor, in early life, was economical from
principle ; in his latter days perhaps from habit.
Poor Richard held the purse-strings of the presi
dent of Pennsylvania. Permit me to illustrate
this observation by an anecdote. Soon after I was
introduced, an airy thoughtless relation, from a
New England state, entered the room. It seems
he was on a party of pleasure ; and had been so
much involved in it, for three weeks, as not to
have paid his respects to his venerable relative.
The purpose of his present visit was to solicit the
loan of a small sum of money, to enable him to
pay his bills, and transport himself home. He
preluded his request with a detail of embarrass-
.rnents which might have befallen the most circum
spect. He said that he had loaded a vessel for
B ; and, as he did not deal on credit, had pur
chased beyond his current cash, and could not
ALGERINE CAPTIVE.
readily procure a draft upon home. The doctor
inquiring how much he wanted, he replied, with
some hesitation, fifty dollars. The benevolent old
gentleman went to his escritoir, and counted him
out a hundred. He received them with many
promises of punctual payment and hastily took
up the writing implements, to draught a note of
hand for the cash. The doctor, who saw into the
nature of the borrower s embarrassments better than
he was aware, and was possessed with the improb
ability of ever recovering his cash again, stepped
across the room, and laying his hand gently upon
his cousin s arm, said, " Stop, cousin, we will
save the paper ; a quarter of a sheet is not of
great value, but it is worth saving :" conveying,
at once, a liberal gift and gentle reprimand for the
borrower s prevarication and extravagance. Since
1 am talking of Frank in, the reader may be as
unwilling to leave him as I was. Allow me to
relate another anecdote. I do not recollect how
the conversation was introduced, but a young per
son in company mentioned his surprise that the
possession of great riches should ever be attended
with such anxiety and solicitude ; and instanced
Mr. R M , who he said, though in possession
of unbounded wealth, yet was as busy and more
anxious than the most assiduous clerk in his count
ing house. The doctor took an apple from a fruit-
basket, and presented it to a little child, who
could just totter about the room. The child could
scarce grasp it in his hand. He then gave it an
other, which occupied the other hand. Then
choosing a third, remarkable for its size and beau-
SO ALGERINE CAPTIVE,
ty, he presented that also. The child, after many
ineffectual attempts to hold the three, dropped the
last on the carpet, and burst into tears. See there,
said the philosopher ; there is a little man with
more riches than he can enjoy.
CHAP. XXIV.
St. Stephen s day, that holy morn,
As he to church trudg d by, sir,
He heard the beagles, heard the horn,
And saw poor puss scud by, sir.
His book he shut, his flock forsook,
And threw aside his gown, sir,
And strode his mare to chase the hare,
And tally ho the hound, sir.
SPORTING SONG.
ARGUMENT.
Religious Exercises in a Southern State.
IN one of the states southward of Philadelphia, 1"
was invited on a Sunday to go to church. I will
not say which, as I am loth to offend ; and our
fashionable fellow citizens, of the south arm of
the union, may not think divine service any credit
to them. My friend apologised for inviting me
to so hum-drum an amusement, by assuring me that
immediately after service, there was to be a fa
mous match run for a purse of a thousand dollars,
besides private bets, between squire Us import
ed horse Slamerkin, end colonel F s bay mari>
ALGERINE CAPTIVE. 81
Jenny Driver. When we arrived at the church,
we found a brilliant collection of well dressed peo
ple, anxiously waiting the arrival of the parson
who, it seems, had a small branch of the river
M to pass ; and, we afterwards learned, was
detained by the absence of his negro boy, who
was to ferry him over. Soon after, our impa
tience was relieved by the arrival of the parson in
his canonicals-^a young man not of the most mor
tified countenance, who, with a switch Called a
supple jack in his hand, belaboured the back and
head of the faulty slave all the way from the water
to the church door, accompanying every stioke
with suitable language. He enteied the church,
and we followed. He ascended the reading-desk,
and, with his face glowing with the exercise of his
supple jack, began the service with, u I said I
tvill take heed unto my ways that I sin not with
my tongue. I will keep my tongue as it were
with a bridle, when 1 am before the wicked.-
When I mused the fire burned within me, and I
spake with my tongue," &c. &c. He preached
an animated discourse, of eleven minutes, upon
the practical duties of religion, from these words,
" Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy; 5
and read the fourth commandment in the commun
ion. The whole congregation prayed fervently
that their hearts might be inclined to keep this
holy law. The blessing was pronounced ; and
parson and people hastened to the horse race. I
found the parson as much respected on the turf
as upon the hassock. He was one of the judges
of the race ; descanted, in the language of the
32 ALGERINE CAPTIVE.
turf, upon the points of the two rival horses ; and
the sleeve of his cassock was heavily laden with
the principal bets. The confidence of his par
ishioners was not ill founded ; for they assured
me, upon oath and honour, that he was a gen
tleman of as much uprightness as his grace the
archbishop of Canterbury. Ay, they would sport
him for a sermon or a song against any parson in
the union.
The whole of this extraordinary scene was nov
el to me. A certain staple of New England which
I had with me, called conscience, made my situ
ation, in even the passive part I bore in it, so auk-
ward and uneasy, that 1 could not refrain from
observing to my friend my surprise at the parson s
conduct, in chastising his servant immediately be
fore divine service. My friend was so happily
influenced by the habits of these liberal enlighten
ed people, that he could not even comprehend
the tendency of my remark. He supposed it lev
elled at the impropriety, not of the minister, but
the man ; not at the act, but the severity of the
chastisement ; and observed, with warmth, that
the parson served the villain right ; and that, if
he had been his slave, he would have killed the
black rascal, if he was sure he should have to pay
a hundred guineas to the public treasury for him.
I will note here, that the reader is requested,
whenever he meets with quotations of speeches
in the above scenes, excepting those during di
vine service, that he will please, that is, if his
habits of life will permit it, to interlard those quo
tations with about as many oaths as they contain
ALGERINE CAPTIVE. 33
monosyllables. He may rest assured that it will
render the scene abundantly more natural. It is
true, I might have inserted them myself and sup
ported it by illustrations and parodies from grave
authors ; but I never swear profanely myself, and
I think it almost as bad to oblige my readers to
purchase the imprecations of others. I give this
hint of the introduction of oaths, for the benefit
of my readers to the southward of Philadelphia ;
who, however they may enjoy a scene which re
flects such honour upon their country, when sea
soned with these palatable expletives, without
them, perhaps, would esteem it as tasteless and
vapid as a game of cards or billiards without bets ,
or boiled veal or turkey without ham.
CHAP. XXV.
Hope springs eternal in the human breasjt ;
Man never is, but always to be, blest.
POPE,
ARGUMENT.
Success of the Doctor s Southern Expedition He
is in Distress Contemplates a School Prefer*
a Surgeon s Birth on board a Ship bound to Af
rica, via London.
I FOUND the southern states not more engaging to-
a young practitioner than the northern. In the
sea-ports of both, the business was engrossed by
34 ALGERINE CAPTIVE.
men of established practice and eminence, fn
the interior country, the people could not distin
guish or encourage merit. The gains were small,
and tardily collected ; and in both wings of the
union, and I believe every where else, fortune and
fame are generally to be acquired, in the learned
professions, solely by a patient undeviating ap^
plication to local business.
If dissipation could have afforded pleasure to a
mind yearning after professional fame and inde
pendence, I might, so long as my money lasted,
have been happy at the southward. I was often
invited to the turf; and might have had the hon
our of being intoxicated frequently with the most
respectable characters. An association with the
well educated of the other sex was not so readily
attained. There was a haughty reserve in the
manners of the young ladies. Every attempt at
familiarity in a young stranger, habituated to the
social but respectable intercourse customary in the
northern states, excited alarm. With my New
England ideas, I could not help viewing, in the
anxious efforts of their parents and relatives to
repel every approach to innocent and even chas
tened intercourse, a strong suspicion of that virtue
they were so solicitous to protect.
Depressed by the gloomy view of my prospects,
and determined never to face iny parents again
under circumstances which would be burthensome to
them, I attempted to obtain practice in the town
of F , in Virginia ; but in vain. The very
decorum, prudence, and economy, which would
have enhanced my character at home, were here
ALdERINE CAPTIVE. 85
construed into poverty of spirit. To obtain med
ical practice, it was expedient to sport, bet, drink? /
swear, &c. with my patients. My purse forbad
the former ; my habits of life the latter. My
cash wasted, and I was near suffering. I was ob
liged to dispose of my books for present subsist
ence ; and, in that country, books were not the
prime articles of commerce. To avoid starving,
I again contemplated keeping a school. In that
country, knowledge was viewed as a handicraft
trade. The school-masters, before the war, had
been usually collected from unfortunate European
youth, of some school learning, sold for their pas
sage into America : so that to purchase a school
master and a negro was almost synonymous. Mr.
j _ n? and some other citizens of the world who
had been cast among them, had, by their writings,
influence and example, brought the knowledge of
letters into some^repute since the revolution ; but
I believe those excellent men have yet to lament
the general inefficacy of their liberal efforts. This
statement, and my own prior experience in school-
keeping, would have determined me rather to
have preferred labouring with the slaves on their
plantations than sustaining the slavery and con
tempt of a school.
When reduced to my last dollar, and beginning
to suffer from the embarrassments of debt, I was
invited by a sea captain, who knew my friends,
to accept the birth of surgeon in his ship. Every
new pursuit has its flattering prospects. I was
encouraged by handsome wages, and a privilege
in the ship to carry an adventure, for the purchase
8
86 ALGERINE CAPTIVE.
of which the owners were to advance me on ac
count of my pay. I was to be companion to the
captain, and have a fine chance of seeing the
world. To quit my home for all parts of the
union I considered as home to tempt the peril
ous ocean, and encounter the severities of a sea
faring life, the diseases of torrid climes, and per
haps a total separation from my friends and pa
rents, was melancholy ; but the desire to see the
world, to acquire practical knowledge in my pro
fession, to obtain property, added to the necessity
of immediate subsistence, and the horrors of a
jail, determined me to accept his offer. I accor
dingly entered surgeon on board the ship Freedom,
captain Sidney Russell commander, freighted with
tobacco bound to London, and thence to the coast
of Africa. 1 had little to do in my passage to
London, my destination as a surgeon being prin
cipally in the voyage from that city to the African
coast, and thence to the West Indies ; and, if I
had not suffered from a previous nausea or sea
sickness, the novelty of the scene would have ren
dered me tolerably happy. In the perturbation
of my thoughts, I had omitted writing to my pa
rents of the places of my destination. This care
less omission afterwards caused them and me much
trouble. We arrived safelv in the Downs,
ALGERINK CAPTIVE. 87
CHAP. XXVI.
.. Now mark a spot or two,
That so much beauty would do well to purge ;
And show this queen of cities, that so fair,
May yet be faul ; so witty, yet not wise,
COWPER.
ARGUMENT.
London.
THE ship being sold, and another purchased, while
the latter was fitting out at Ply moth for her voy
age to Africa, I was ordered by the captain to
London, to procure our medicine chest and case
of surgical instruments. Here a field of boundless
remark opened itself to me.
Men of unbouned affluence in plain attire, li
ving within the rules of the most rigid economy ;
crowds of no substance strutting in embroidery
and lace ; people whose little smoky fire of coals
was rendered cheerless by excise, and their daily
draughts of beer embittered by taxes ; who admin
ister to the luxury of pensioners and placemen, in
every comfort, convenience, or even necessary
of life, they partake ; who are entangled by in
numerable penal laws, to the breach of which ban
ishment and the gallows are almost universally an
nexed ; a motley race, in whose mongrel veins
runs the blood of all nations, speaking with poin-
88 ALGERINE CAPTIVE.
ted contempt of the fat burgo-master of Amsterdam,
the cheerful French peasant, the hardy tiller of the
Swiss cantons, and the independent farmer of
America ; rotting in dungeons, languishing wretch
ed lives in foetid jails, and boasting of the glorious
freedom of Englishmen : hereditary senators, ig
norant and inattentive to the welfare of their coun
try, and unacquainted with the geography of its
foreign possessions ; and politicians in coffee-hou
ses, without one foot of soil, or one guinea in
their pockets, vaunting with national pride of
our victories, our colonies, our minister, our mag-
na-cbarta, and our constitution. I could not re
frain from adopting the language of Dr. Young, and
exclaiming in parody
How poor, how rich, how abject, how august,
How complicate, how wonderful, are Biitons !
How passing wonder they who made them such.
Who center d in their make such strange extremes
Of different nations, marvellously mix d.
Connexion exquisite of distant climes !
As men, trod worms as Englishmen, high gods.
ALGKRINJS CAPTIVE. 39
CHAP. XXVII.
Thus has he, and many more of the same breed, that
I know the drossy age doats on, only got the tune
of the time and outward habit of encounter ; a
kind of yesty collection, which carries through and
through the most fond and winnowed opinions ;
if you blow them to their trial, the bubbles are
out.
SHAKSPEARE.
ARGUMENT.
The Author passeth by the Lions in the Tower,
and the other Insignia of British Royalty, and
seeth a greater Curiosity, called Thomas Paine,
Author of the Rights of Man Description of
his Person, ttabit, and Manners In this
Chapter due Meed is rendered to a great Amer
ican Historical Painter, and a prose Mono-
dyover our lack of the Fine Arts.
OMITTING the lions in the Tower, the regalia
in tbe jewel office, and the other insignia of Bri
tish royalty, of which Englishmen are so justly
proud, 1 shall content myself with mentioning the
most singular curiosity I saw in London. It was
the celebrated Thomas Paine, author of " Common
Sense," " The Rights of Man," and other wri
tings, whose tendency is to overturn ancient opi
nions of government and religion.
8*
90 ALGERINE CAPTIVE.
I met this interesting personage at the lodgings
of the son of a late patriotic American governor,
whose genius in the fine art of historical painting,
whose sortie at Gibraltar, whose flowing drapery,
faithful and bold expression in the portraits of our
beloved president, and other leaders, both military
and political, in our glorious revolution, when the
love of the fine arts shall be disseminated in our
land, will leave posterity to regret and admire
the imbecility of contemporary patronage.
Thomas Paine resembled the great apostle to
the Gentiles, not more in his zeal and subtlety
of argument, than in personal appearance ; for,
like that fervid apostle, his bodily presence was
both mean and contemptible. When 1 saw him,
he was dressed in a snuff-coulored coat, olive
Velvet vest, drab breeches, coarse hose. His shoe-
buckles of the size of half a dollar. A bob-tailed
wig covered that head which worked such mickle
woe to courts and kings. If 1 should attempt to
describe it, it would be in the same syle and prin
ciple with which the veteran soldier bepraiseth an
old standard the more tattered, the more glorious,
It is probable that this was the same identical wig
under the shadow of whose curls he wrote " Com
mon Sense" in America many years before. He
was a spare man, rather under size, subject to the
.extreme of low and highly exhilirated spirits, often
sat reserved in company, and seldom mingled in
common chit-chat. But when a man of sense
and elocution was present, and the company nu
merous, he delighted in advancing the most un
accountable and often the most whimsical para-
ALGERINE CAPTIVK. 91
<3oxes, which he defended in his own plausible
manner. If encouraged by success, or the applause
of the company, his countenance was animated
with an expression of feature, which, on ordinary
occasions, one would look for in vain in a man so
much celebrated for acuteness of thought ; but if
interrupted by extraneons observation, by the in
attention of his auditory, or, in an irritable mo
ment, even by the accidental fall of the poker, he
would retire into himself, and no persuasions could
induce him to proceed upon the most favourite
CHAP. XXV III.
He could distinguish and divide
A hair twixt south and south-west side ;
He d undertake to prove, by force
Of argument, a man s no horse ;
He d prove a buzzard is no fowl,
And that a lord may be an oivl.
IlUDIBRAS.
ARGUMENT.
Curious Argument between Thomas Paine and
the noted Peter Pindar Peter seiteth a Wit-
noose, and catchelh Thomas in one of his own
Logic Traps.
I HEARD Thomas Paine once assert, in the pre
sence of Dr. Walcot, better known in this coun
try, by the facetious name of Peter Pindar, that
fbe minority, in all deliberative bodies, ought
$2 ALGER1NE CAPTIVE.
in all cases to govern the majority. Peter smiled,
" You must grant me," said 7n-common Sense*
" that tne proportion of men of sense, to the igno
rant among mankind, is at least as twenty, thirty,
or even forty-nine, to a hundred. The majority
of mankind are consequently most prone to error ;
and, if we would achieve right, the minority ought *
in all cases to govern." Peter continued to smile
archly. " If we look to experience," continued
Paine, " for there are no conclusions 1 more prize
than those drawn, not from speculation, but plain
matter of fact, we shall find an examination into
the debates of all deliberative bodies in our favour*
To proceed no farther than your country, Dr.
Walcot I love to look at home suppose the re
solutions of the houses ot lords and commons had
been determined by this salutary rule ; Why, the
sensible minority would have governed George
Washington would have been a private citizen,
and the United States of Amercia mere colonies
dependent on the British crown. As a patriotic
Englishman, will you not confess, that this would
have been better than to have these United States
independent, with the illustrious Washington at
their head, by their wisdom confounding the jug
gling efforts of your ministry to embroil them ; and
to have the comfortable prospect before you, that,
from the extent of their territory, their maritime re
source, their natural increase, the asylum they
offer to emigrants in the course of two centuries,
Scotland and Ireland, if the United States have
not too much real pride to attempt it, may be re
duced to the same dependence upon them as your
ALGERINK CAPTIW. 93
West- India islands now have upon you ; and ev
en England, haughty England ! thrown in as a make
weight in the future treaty between them and the
French nation?" Peter, who had listened with
great seeming attention, now mildly replied. " I
will not say but that your arguments are cogent,
though not entirely convincing. As it is a subject
rather out of my line, 1 will, for form sake, hold
the negative of your proposition, and leave it to
the good company which is right." " Agreed ;"
said Paine, who saw himself surrounded by his ad
mirers. "Well, gentlemen," said Peter, with
all the gravity of a speaker of the house of com
mons, " you that are of the opinion that the mi
nority, in all deliberative bodies, ought in all ca
ses to govern the majority, please to rise in the
affirmative." Paine immediately stood up him
self, and, as he had foreseen, we all rose in his
favour. " Theni rise in the negative," cried Pe
ter. " I am the wise minority, who ought in all
cases to govern your ignorant majority ; and, con
sequently, upon your own principles I carry the
vote. Let it be recorded."
This unexpected manoeuvre raised a hearty
laugh. Paine retired from the presence of tri-
amphant wit, mortified with being foiled at h&
own weapon^.
ALGER1NE CAPTITK.
CHAP. XXIX.
Fierce Robespierre strides o er the crimson cl scene,
And howls for lamp-posts and the guillotine ;
While wretched Paine, to scape the bloody strife,
Damns his mean soul to save his meaner life.
AUTHOR S Manuscript Poems*
ARGUMENT.
Reasonable Conjectures upon the Motives which in
duced Thomas Paine to write that little Book
called the " Jlge of Reason."
IN the frequent interviews 1 had with this celebra
ted republican apostle, I never heard him express
the least doubt of, or cast the smallest reflection
upon, revealed religion. He spake of the glow ing
expressions of the Jewish prophets with fervour ;
and had quoted liberally from the Scriptures in
his " Common Sense. " How he came to write
that unreasonable little pamphlet called The Jlge
of Reason, 1 am at a loss to conjecture. <The pro
bable opinion attributes it to his passion for para
dox ; or that this small morsel of infidelity was
offered as a sacrifice to save his life from the de
vouring cruelty of Robespierre, that Moloch of the
French nation. It probably had its desired effect ;
for annihilating revealed religion could not but af
ford a diabolical pleasure to that ferocious wretch
and his inhuman associates, who could not expert
ALGERIXE CAPTIVE, 95
a sanction for their cruelties while the least vestige
of any thing sacred remained among men.
When the reign of the terrorists ceased, an
apology was expected, and, even by the pious yet
catholic American, would have been received. To
the offended religion of his country no propitiatory
sacrifice was made. This missionary of vice pro
ceeded proselyting. He has added second parts,
and made other and audacious adjuncts to deism.
No might nor greatness escapes him. He has
vilified a great prophet, the saviour of the Gentiles;
he has railed at Washington, a saviour of his coun
try. A tasteful though irreligious scholar might
tolerate a chastised scepticism, if exhibited by
an acute Hume, or an eloquent Bolingbroke. But
one cannot repress the irritability of the fiery
Hotspur, when one beholds the pillars of morality
shaken by the rude shock of this modern Vandal.
The reader shouM learn that his paltry system is
only an outrage of wine ;* and that it is in the
ale-house he most vigorously assults the authority
of the prophets, and laughs most loudly at the
Gospel when in his cups.
I have preserved an epigram of Peter Pindar s,
written originally in a blank leaf of a copy of Paine s
Age of Reason, and not inserted in any of his
works.
* Mr. Johnson, a respectable bookseller in St. Paul s
church-yard, London, has asserted that Mr. Paine s
tongue used to flow most freely against revealed re
ligion, when he was most intoxicated with " ale, or
viler liquors,*
96 AtGERlNE CAPTIVE
EPIGRAM.
Tommy Paine wrote this book to prove that the
Was an old woman s dream of fancies most idle ;
That Solomon s proverbs were made by low livers ;
That prophets were fellows who sang semiquavers ;
That religion and miracles all were a jest,
And the Devil in torment a tale of the priest.
Tho Beelzebub s absence from hell Fll maintain,
Yet we all must allow that the DEVIL S IN PAINE.
CHAP. XXX.
Man hard of heart to* man ! of horrid things
Most horrid ! mid stupendous highly strange !
Hear it not, ye stars !
And thou, pale moon ! turn paler at the sound :
Man is to man the sorest surest ill !
THE COMPLAINT,
ARGUMENT.
The Author sails for the Coast of Africa Man
ner of purchasing Negro-Slaves.
ON the ISlhof July, 1788, I received orders
from my captain to join the ship in the Downs,
I accordingly took passage in a post-chaise ; and,
after a rapid journey of seventy-four miles, arrived
the same afternoon. at Deal ; and the next morn*
ing entered as surgeon on board the ship Sym
pathy, of three hundred tons and thirty-eight men,
ALGERINE CAPTIVE. 97
captain Sidney Russell commander, bound to the
coat of Africa, thence to Barbadoes and to South-
Carolina with a cargo of slaves.
We were favoured with a clear sky and pleasant
gales ; after a short and agreeable voyage we touch
ed at Porto Santo, one of the Madeira Isles, where
we watered and supplied ourselves with fresh
provisions in abundance, to which the captain
added, at my request, a quantity of Madeira,
malmsey and tent wines, for the sick. We had a
fine run from the Madeiras to the Canary Isles.
The morning after we sailed I was highly gratified
with a full view of the island and peak of Ten-
eriffe ; which made its appearance the day before,
rising above the ocean, at one hundred miles dis- ,
tance. We anchored off Fuertaventura, one of
the Canaries, in a good bottom. I went on shore
with the mate to procure green vegetables ; as
I ever esteemed them the best specific for that
dreadful sea disorder, the scurvy. Before we had
reached the Madeiras, though I had stored our
medicine chest with the best antiscorbutics, and
we had a plenty of dried vegetables on board,
yet the scurvy had begun to infect us. A plenti
ful distribution of green vegetables, after our arri
val at Porto Santo, soon expelled it from the crew.
At Fuertaventura I was delighted with the wild
notes of the Canary-bird, far surpassing the most
excellent of those I had seen in cages in the Uni
ted States.
I was anxious to visit the Cape de Verd Islands ,
but, our course being too far east, we ran dowc
to the little island of Goree, to which the conten-
o
98 ALGERINE CAPTIVE.
tions of the English and French jcrowns have an*
nexed its only importance. The French officers
received us with politeness, arid were extremely
anxious for news from their pasent country. Soon
after we dropped anchor off Loango city, upon
a small well-peopled island near the coast of
Congo or Lower Guinea, in possession of the
Portuguese. Our captain carried his papers on
shore, and the next day weighed anchor and stood
in for the continent All hands were employed
to unlade the ship, aud the cargo was deposited
in a Portuguese factory,, at a place called Cacon-
go, near the mouth! ot the river Zaire. The day
after our arrival at Cacongo, several Portuguese
and negro merchants, hardly distinguishable how
ever by their manners, employments, or complex
ions, came to confer with the captain about the
purchase of our cargo of slaves. They contracted
deliver him two hundred and fifty head of slaves
eiert days time. To hear these men converse
upon the purchase of feuia.p beings, with the same
indifference,, and nearly in the- same language, as
if they were contracting for so many head of cattle
or swine, shocked, me exceedingly, But when
I suffered my imagination to rove to the habitation
of these victims to this infamous cruel commerce,
and fancied that I saw the peaceful husbandman
dragged from his native farm, the fond husband
torn from .the embraces of his beloved wife, the
jftotper frotn her babes, thejdnder child from the
auras of its parent, and all the tender endearing ties
oPftatursl and social affection rended by the hand
r -varfcious violence, mv heart sunk within me.
ALGERINE CAPTIVE. 99
I execrated myself for even the involuntary part
1 bore in this execrable traffic : I thought of my
native land, and blushed. When the captain kind
ly inquired of me how many slaves i thought
my privilege in the ship entitled me to transport for
my adventure, I rejected my privilege with horror,
and declared I would sooner suffer servitude than
purchase a slave. This observation was received
in the great cabin with repeated bursts of laughter,
and excited many a stroke of coarse ridicule.
Captain Russell observed, that he would not insist
upon my using my privilege if I had so much of
the yankee about me. Here is my clerk, Ned
Randolph, will jump at the chance, though the
rogue has been rather unlucky in the trade. Out
of five-and-twenty negroes he purchased, he nev
er carried but one alive to port, and that poor devil
was broken winded ; and he was obliged to sell
him for half price in Antigua.
Punctual to the day of the delivery, the con
tractors appeared, and brought with them about
one hundred and fifty negroes men, women, and
children. The men were fastened together in
pairs by a bar of iron, with a collar to receive
the neck at each extremity ; a long pole was pas
sed over their shoulder, and between each two was
bound by a staple and ring, through which the pole
was thrust, and thus twenty, and sometimes, thir
ty were connected together ; while their conductors
incessantly applied the scourge to those who loiter
ed, or sought to strangle themselves by lifting their
feet from the ground in despair ; which sometimes
had been successfully attempted. The women
100 ALGKRIM; CAPTIVE.
and children were bound with cords, and driven
forward by the whip. When they arrived at the
factory the men were unlosed from the poles, but
still chained in pairs, and turned into strong cells
built for the purpose. The dumb sorrow of some,
the phrensy of others, the sobbings and tears of
the children, and shrieks of the women, when they
were presented to our captain, so affected me, that
I was hastening from this scene of barbarity on
board the ship, when 1 was called by the mate,
and discovered, to my surprise and horror,
that, by my station in the ship, I had a principal
and active part of this inhuman transaction impos
ed upon me. As surgeon, it was my duty to in
spect the bodies of the slaves, to see, as the cap
tain expressed himself, that our owners were not
shammed off with unsound flesh. In this inspec
tion 1 was assisted by Randolph the olerk, ana two
stout sailors. It was transacted with all that un
feeling insolence which wanton barbarity can in
flict upon defenceless wretchedness. The man,
the affrighted child, the modest matron, and the
timid virgin, were alike exposed to this severe
scrutiny, equally insulting to humanity and com
mon decency.
I cannot even now reflect on this transaction
without shuddering. I have deplored my conduct
with tears of anguish ; and I pray a merciful God,
the common parent of the great family of the
universe, who hath made of one flesh and one
blood all nations of the earth, that the miseries,
the insults, and cruel woundings, I afterwards re-
ALGERINE CAPTIVE. lOl
ceived when a slave myself, may expiate for the
inhumanity I was necessitated to exercise towards
these MY BRETHREN OF THE HUMAN RACE.
CHAP., XXXI.
-j,.Lu Cah thus J
The image of Ged v in man created, once -
So goodly and erect, though fi#tf -suife, -
To such unsightly sufferings^ be: "dotytfs^ri - v I v *
Under inhuman pains ?
MILTON.
ARGUMENT*
Treatment of the Slaves on board the Ship,
OF one hundred >and fifty Africans, we rejected
seventeen as not merchantable. While I was
doubting which to lament most those who were
about being precipated into all the miseries of an
American slavery, or those whom we had rejected
as too wretched for slaves captain Russell was
congratulating the slave-contractors upon the im
mense good luck they had in not suffering more
by this lot of human creatures. I understood that,
what from wounds received by some of these mis
erable creatures at their capture, or in their vio
lent struggles for liberty, or attempts at suicide,
and what with the fatigue of a long journey, partly
over the burning sands of a sultry climate, it was
usual to estimate the loss in the passage to the
sea-shore at twenty -five in a hundred.
102 ALGERINE CAPTIVE.
No sooner was the purchase completed, than
these wretched Africans were transported in herds
aboard the ship, and immediately precipitated
between decks, where a strong chain, attached to
a staple in the lower deck, was ri vetted to the
bar before described ; and then the men were
chained in pairs and hand-cuffed, and two sailors
wiiiitcuHasses guarded: eveky twenty ; while the
women 1 arid children were tied f together in pairs
wilb rope?;; a*)d 6T>l3geii to supply the men with
provisions and -the siifsli-bucket ; or, if the young
women were released, it was only to gratify the
brutal lust of the sailors : for though 1 cannot say
1 ever was witness to an actual rape, yet the fre
quent shrieks of these forlorn females in the births
of the seamen left me little charity to doubt of
the repeated commission of that degrading crime.
The eve after we had received the slaves on board,
all hands were piped on deck, and ordered to as
sist in manufacturing and knotting cat-o nine-tails,
the application of which, 1 was informed, was al
ways necessary to bring the slaves to their appe
tite. The night after they came on board was
spent by these wretched people in sobbings, groans,
tears, and the most heart-rending bursts of sorrow
and despair. The next morning all was still. Sur
prised by this unexpected silence, I almost ho
ped that providence, in pity to these her misera
ble children, had permitted some kindly suffoca
tion to put a period to their anguish. It was nei
ther novel nor unexpected to the ship s crew. It is
only the dumb fit come on, cried every one : we
will cure them. After breakfast, the whole ship s
ALGERINE CAPTIVE. 103
crew went between decks, and carried with them
the provisions for the slaves, which they one and
all refused to eat. A more affecting group of mis
ery was never seen. These injured Africans, pre
ferring death to slavery, or perhaps buoyed above
the fear of dissolution by their religion, which
taught them to look with an eye of faith to a coun
try beyond the grave, where they should again
meet those friends and relatives from whose en
dearments they had been torn, and where no fiend
should torment or Christian thirst for gold, had
resolved to starve themselves, and every eye
lowered the fixed resolve of this deadly intent.
In vain were the men beaten. They refused to
taste one mouthful ; and I believe, would have
died under the operation, if the ingenious cruel
ty of the clerk, Randolph had not suggested the
plan of whipping the women and children in sight
of the men ; assuring the men they should be tor
mented until all had eaten. What the torments
exercised on the bodies of these brave Airicans
failed to produce, the feelings of nature effected.
The negro, who could undauntedly expire under
the anguish of the lash, could not view the ago
nies of his wife, child, or mother , and though re
peatedly encouraged by these female sufferers to
persevere unto death, unmoved by their torments,
yet, though the man dared to die, the father re-
iented, and in a few hours they had all eaten their
provisions, mingled with their tears.
Our slave-dealers being unable to fulfil their
contract, unless we tarried three weeks longer, our
captain concluded to remove to some other market.
104 ALGERINE CAPTIVE.
We accordingly weighed anchor, steered for Benin,
and anchored in the river Formosa, where we
took in one hundred and fifteen more slaves. The
same process in the purchase was pursued here ;
and though I frequently assured the captain, as a
* physician, that it was impracticable to stow fifty
more persons between decks without endangering
health and life, yet the whole hundred and fifteen
were thrust, with the rest, between decks. The
stagnant confined air of this infernal hole, rendered
more deleterious by the stench of the faeces and
violent perspiration of such a crowd, occasioned
putrid diseases ; and, even while in the mouth ot
the Formosa, it was usual to throw one or two ne
gro corpses over every day. It was in vain that I
remonstrated to the captain. In vain I enforced the
necessity of more commodious births, and a more
free influx of air for the slaves. In vain I repre
sented that these miserable people had been used
to the vegetable diet and pure air of a country
life ; that at home they were remarkable for clean
liness of person, the very rites of their religion
consisting, almost entirely, in frequent ablutions.
The captain was by this time prejudiced against
me. He observed that he did not doubt my skill,
and would be bound by my advice, as to the health
of those on board his ship, when he found I was
actuated by the interest of the owners ; but he
feared that 1 was now moved by some yankee non
sense about humanity.
Randolph the clerk blamed me in plain terms.
He said he had made seven African voyages with
as good surgeons as I was ; and that it was their
ALGERINE CAPTIVE. 105
common practice, when an infectious disorder
prevailed, among the slaves, to make critical search
for all those who had the slightest symptoms of it,
or whose habits of body inclined them to it ; to
tie them up and cast them over the ship s side to
gether, and thus at one dash to purify the ship.
What signifies, added he, the lives of the black
devils ? They love to die. You cannot please them
better than by chucking them into the water.
When we stood out to sea, the rolling of the
vessel brought on the sea sickness, which encrea-
sed the filth : the weather being rough, we were
obliged to close some of the ports which ventila
ted the space between decks, and death raged
dreadfully among the slaves. Above two thirds
were diseased. It was affecting to observe the
ghastly smile on x the countenance of the dying Af
rican, as if rejoicing to escape the cruelty of his
oppressors. I noticed one man, who gathered all
his strength, and in one last effort spoke with
great emphasis, and expired. I understood by
the linguist, that with his dying breath he in
vited his wife and a boy and girl to follow
him quickly, and slake their thirst with him at
the cool streams of the fountain of their Great
Father, beyond the reach of the wild white beasts.
The captain was now alarmed for the success ot
his voyage ; and, upon my urging the necessity
of landing the slaves, he ordered the ship about,
and we anchored near an uninhabited part of the
Gold Coast I conjecture, not far from Cape St-
Paul.
106 ALGERINE CAPTIVE.
Tents were erected on the shore, and the
sick landed. Under my direction they recovered
surprisingly. It was affecting to see the effect
gentle usage had upon these hitherto sullen obsti
nate people. As I had the sole direction of the
hospital, they looked on me as the source of this
sudden transition from the filth and rigour of the
ship to the cleanliness and kindness of the shore.
Their gratitude was excessive. When they re
covered so far as to walk out, happy was he who
could, by picking a few berries, gathering the
wild fruits of the country, or doing any menial
services, manifest his affection for me. Our lin
guist has told me, he has olten heard them behind
the bushes praying to their God for my prosperity,
and asking him with earnestness, why he put my
good black soul into a white body. In twelve
days all the convalescents were returned to the
ship, qxcept live, who staid with me on shore^
and were to b^ taken on board the next day.
CHAP. XXXII.
Chains are the portion of revolted man ;.
Stripes and a dungeon.
ARGUMENT.
The Author taken Captive by the Jllgerines.
NEAR the close of the 14th of November, 1788,
as the sun was sinking behind the mountains of
ALGERINE CAPRI VE, 107
Fundia, I sat at the door of my tent, and per
ceived our ship, which lay at one mile s distance,
getting under way, apparently in great haste.
The jolly boat, about ten minutes before, had
made towards the shore ; but was recalled by a
musket-shot from the ship. Alarmed by this
unexpected manoeuvre, I ran to the top of a small
hill, at the back of the hospital, and plainly dis
covered a square-rigged vessel in the offing en
deavouring to lock our ship within the land ; but
a land breeze springing up from the north-cast,
which did not extend to the strange vessel, and
our ship putting out all her light sails, being well
provided with ring sail, scudding sails, water sails,
and driver, I could perceive she outsailed her. It
was soon so dark that I lost sight of both, and I
passed a night of extreme anxiety, which was in
creased by what I conjectured to be flashes of guns
in the south-west ; though at too great distance for
me to hear the report?.
The next morning no vessels were to be seen
on the coast, and the ensuing day was spent in
a state of dreadful suspense. Although I had
provisions enough with me for some weeks, and
was sheltered by our tents, yet to be separated
from my friends and country, perhaps for ever, and
to fall into the hands of the barbarous people which
infested this coast, was truly alarming. The five
Africans who were with me could not conceal their
joy at the departure of the ship. By signs they
manifested their affection towards me ; and when f
signified to them that the vessel was gone not to re,-
furn, they clapped their hands, and pointing inland.
108 ALGERINE CAPTIVE.
signified a desire to convey me to their native
country, where they were sure I should be happy.
By their consultation, I could see that they were
totally ignorant of the w#y. On the third day,
towards evening, to my great joy, I saw a sail
approaching the shore, at the prospect of which
rny African associates manifested every sign of
horror. I immediately concluded that no great
blame would arise from my not detaining five men
in the absence of the ship ; and I intimated to
them that they might conceal themselves in the
brush, and escape. Four quitted me ; but one,
who made me comprehend that he had a beloved
son among the slaves, refused to go, preferring
the company of his child, in slavery itself, to free
dom and the land of his nativity. I retired to
rest, pleased with the imagination of soon rejoin-
ing my friends, and proceeding to my native coun
try. On the morning of the fourth day, as I was
sleeping in my tent with the affectionate negro at
my feet, I was suddenly awakened by the blow
ing of conch-shells, and the sound of uncouth
voices. I arose to dress myself, when the tent was
overset, and I received a blow from the back of
a sabre, which levelled me to the earth. I was
immediately seized and bound by severel men of
sallow and fierce demeanour, in strange habits,
who spake a language I could not comprehend.
With the negro, tents, baggage, and provisions,
I was carred to the boat, which being loaded was
immediately pushed off from the shore, and rowed
towards a vessel, which 1 now for the first time
, and had no doubt but it was the same
ALGERINE CAPTIVE. 109
which was in pursuit of the Sympathy. She was
rigged differently from any I had ever seen, hav
ing two masts, a large square main-sail, another of
equal size, seized by the middle of a main yard
to her fore-mast, and what the sailors call a shoul
der of mutton sail abaft ; which with top-sails and
two banks of oars, impelled her through the water
with amazing velocity : although, for the clumsi
ness of her rigging, an American seaman would
never have pronounced her a good sea-boat. At
her ma in- mast head was a broad black pennant,
with a crescent and a drawn sabre in white and
red emblazoned in the middle. The sides of the
vessel were manned as we approached ; and a
tackle being let down, the hook was attached to
the cord which bound me, and I was hoisted oa
board in the twinkling of an eye. Then, being
unbound, I was tarried upon the quarter-deck,
where a man, who appeared to be the captain,
glittering in silks, pearl, and gold, sat cross-legged
upon a velvet cushion to receive me. He was
nearly encircled by a band of men, with mon
strous tufts of hair on their upper lips, dressed in
habits of the same mode with their leader s, but
of coarser contexture, with drawn scimetars in
their hands ; and by his side a man of lighter
complexion, who, by the captain s command in
quired of me in good English if I was an English
man. I replied I was an American, a citizen of the
United States. This was no sooner interpreted to
the captain, than, at a disdainful nod of his head,
I was again seized, hand-cuffed, and thrust into
a r-irl v hole in the fore-castle, where I Jay twenty-
10
110 ALGERINE CAPTIVE.
four hours, without straw to sleep on, or any thing
to eat or drink. The treatment we gave the un
happy Africans on board the Sympathy now came
full into my mind ; and, what was more mortify
ing, I discovered that the negro who was captured
with me was at liberty, and fared as well as the
sailors on board the vessel. I had not however
been confined more than one half-hour, when the
interpreter came to examine me privately respect
ing the destination of the ship, to which he sus
pected I belonged ; was anxious to know if she
had her full cargo of slaves ; what was her force ;
whether she had English papers on board ; and if
she did not intend to stop at some other African
port. From him I learned that I was captured
by an Algerine rover, Hamed Hali Saad captain ;
and should be carried into slavery at Algiers.
After I had lain twenty-four hours in this loath
some place, covered with vermin, parched with
thirst, and fainting with hunger, 1 was startled at a
light through the hatchway, which opening softly,
a hand presented me a cloth, dripping with cold
water, in which a small quantity of boiled rice
was wrapped. The door closed again softly, and
I was left to enjoy my good fortune in the dark.
If Abraham had indeed sent Lazarus to the rich
man in torment, it appears to me he could not
have received a greater pleasure from the cool
water on his tongue than I experienced in suck
ing the moisture from this cloth. The next day,
the same kindly hand appeared again with the
same refreshment. I begged to see ray benefac-
for. The door opened further, and I saw a coun-
ALGERINE CAPTIVE. Ill
lenance in tears. It -was the facaof the grateful
African who was taken with me. 1 was oppres
sed with gratitude. Is this, exclaimed 1, one of
those men whom we are taught to vilify as be
neath the human species, who brings me suste
nance, perhaps at the risk of tiis life, who shares
his morsel with one of those barbarous men who had
recently torn him from all he held dear, and whose
base companions are now transporting his darling
son to et grievous slavery ? Grant me, I ejaculated,
once more to taste the freedom of my native coun
try, andjevery moment of iny life shall be dedica
ted to preaching against this detestable commerce,
I will fly to our fellow citizens in the southern
states ; 1 will on my knees conjure them, in the
name of humanity, to abolish a traffic which caus
es it to bleed in every pore. If they are deaf to
the pleadings of nature,, I will conjure them for
the sake of consistency to cease to deprive their
fellow creatures of freedom, which their writers,
their orators, representatives, senators, and even
their constitutions of government, have declared
to be the unalienable birth-right of maa.- My
sable friend had no occasion to visit me a third
time ; for I was taken from my confinement, and,
after being stripped of the few clothes and the
little property I chanced to have about me, a log
was fastened to my leg by a chain, and I was per
mitted to walk the forecastle of the vessel, with
the African and several Spanish and Portuguese
prisoners. The treatment of the slaves who "plied
the oars, the management of the vessel, the order
which was observed among this ferocious net.
112 ALGERIISE CAPTIVE.
and some notices of our voyage, might afford ob
servations which would be highly gratifying to
my readers, if the limits of this work would per
mit. I will just observe, however, that the regu
larity and frequency of their devotion was aston
ishing to me, who had been taught to consider
this people as the most blasphemous infidels. In
ten days after 1 was captured, the rover passed up
the Straits of Gibralter, and I heard the garrison
evening gun fired from that formidable rock ; and
the next morning we hove in sight of the city ,of
Algiers.
CHAP. XXXIII.
There dwell the most forlorn of humun kind
Immured, though unaccused, condemned untried,
Cruelly spared, and hopeless of escape.
COWPER,
ARGUMENT.
The Author is carried into Algiers Is brought be
fore the Dey Description of his Person, Court^
and Guards Manner of selecting the Tenth
Prisoner.
WE saluted the castle with seven guns, which was
returned with three, and then we entered within
the immense pier which forms the port. The
prisoners, thirty in number, were conveyed to the
castle, where they were received with great pa
rade by the Dey s troops or cologlies, and guard-
ALGERINE CAPTIVE. 113
ed to a heavy strong tower of the castle. The
Portuguese prisoners, to which nation the Alger-
ines have the most violent antipathy, were imn.e-
diately, with every mark of contempt, spurned
into a dark dungeon beneath the foundations of
the tower, though there were several merchants
of eminence and one young nobleman in the num
ber. The Spaniards, whom the Dey s subjects
detest as much and fear more, were confined with
me in a grated room on the second slory. We re
ceived the same evening rations similar to what
we understood w r ere issued to the garrison. The
next day we were all led to a cleansing house,
where we were cleared from vermin, our hair cut
short, and our beards close shaved ; thence taken
to a bath, and, after being well bathed, we were
clothed in coarse^ linen drawers, a straight waist
coat of the same without sleeves, and a kind of
tunic or loose coat over the whole, which with a
pair of leather slippers, and a blue cotton cop,
equipped us, as \ve were informed, to appear m .
the presence of the Dey, who was to select the
tenth prisoner from us in person. The next morn
ing the dragomen or interpreters were- very busy
in impressing upon us the most profound respect
for the Dey s person and power, and teaching us
the obeisance necessary to be made in our ap
proaches to this august potentate. Soon after we
were paraded, and captain Hamed presented each
of us with a paper, written in a base kind of Ara
bic, describing, as 1 was informed, our persons,
names, country, and conditions in life, so far as
our captors could collect from our several examin-
10*
H4 ALGERINE CAPTIVE.
ations. Upon the back of each paper was a mark
or number. The same mark was painted upon a
flat oval piece of wood, somewhat like a painter s
pallette, and suspended by a small brass chain, to
our necks, hanging upon our breasts. The guards
then formed a hollow square. We were blind
folded until we passed the fortifications, and then
suffered to view the city and the immense rabble
which surrounded us, until we came to the palace
of the Dey. Here, after much military parade,
the gates were thrown open, and we entered a
spacious court-yard, at the upper end pf which
the Dey was seated upon an eminence, covered
with the richest carpeting fringed with gold. A
circular canopy of Persian silk was raised over his
head, from which were suspended curtains of the
richest embroidery, drawn into festoons by silk
cords and tassels, enriched with pearls. Over the
eminence upon the right and left were canopies,
which almost vied in riches with the former, under
which stood the mufti, his numerous hadgis, and
his principal officers civil and military ; and on
each side about seven hundred foot-guards were
drawn up in the form of a half moon.
The present Dey, Vizier Hassen Bashaw, is
about forty years of age, five feet ten inches in
height, inclining to corpulency, with a counte
nance rather comely than commanding ; an eye
which betrays sagacity rather than inspires awe
the latter is sufficiently inspired by the fierce
appearance of his guards, the splendour of his at
tendants, the grandeur of his court, and the mag
nificence of his attire. He was arrayed in a
AtGLKHVE CAPTIVE.
sumptuous Turkish habit. His feet were shod
with buskins, bound upon his legs with diamond
buttons in loops of pearl ; round his waist was a
broad sash glittering with jewels, to which was
suspended a broad scymetar, the hilt of which
dazzled the eye with brilliants of the first water,
and the sheath of which was of the finest velvet,
studded with gems and the purest gold. In his
scarf were stuck a poignard and pair of pistols
of exquisite *workmanship. These pistols and
poignard were said to have been a present from
the late unfortunate Lewis the Sixteenth. The
former was of pure gold, and the value of the
work was said to exceed that of the precious metal
Jtwo hundred times. Upon the Dey s head was
a turban with the point erect, which is peculiar to
the royal family.N A large diamond crescent shone
conspicuously in the front, on the back of which
a socket received the quills of two large ostrich
feathers, which waved in graceful majesty over
his head. The prisoners were directed by turns
to approach the foot of the eminence. When
within thirty paces, we were made to throw our
selves upon the earth and creep towards the Dey,
licking the dust as a token of reverence and sub
mission. As each captive approached, he was
commanded to rise, pull off his slippers, and stand
with his face bowed to the ground, and his arms
crossed over his breast. The chieux or secretary
then took the paper he carried, and read the same.
To some the Dey put questions by his dragoman ;
others were dismissed by a slight nod of his head.
After some consultation among the chief men, an
116 ALCERINE CAPIIVb.
officer came to where the prisoners were paraded,
and called for three by the number which was
marked on their breasts. The Dey s prerogative
gives him the right to select the tenth of all pris
oners ; and, as the service or ransom of them con
stitutes one part of his revenue, his policy is to
choose those whose friends or wealth would be
most likely to enrich his coffers. At this time he
selected two wealthy Portuguese merchants, and
a young nobleman of the same nation, called Don
Juan Combri. Immediately after this selection,
we were carried to a strong house or rather prison
in the city, and there guarded by an officer and
goiue of the crew of the Rover that had taken us.
The remainder of us being considered as private
property, another selection was made by the cap
tain and owners of the , Rover ; and all such as
could probably pay their ransom in a short time
were removed into a ^place of safety, and suffered
only a close confinement. The remnant of my
companions, being only eleven, consisted of the
negro slave, five Portuguese, two Spanish sailors,
an Italian fiddler, a Dutchman from the Cape of
Good Hope, and his Hottentot servant. As we
could proffer no probability of ransom, we were
reserved for another fate.
ALGERINE CAPTIVE. 117
CHAP. XXXIV.
Despoiled of all the honours of the free,
The beaming dignities of man eclipsed.
Degraded to a beast, and basely sold
In open shambles, like the stalled ox.
AUTHOR S Manuseriftf Poems*
ARGUMENT.
The Slave Market.
ON the next market day we were stripped of the
dress in which we appeared at court. A napkin
was wrapped round our loins, and a coarse cloak
thrown over our shoulders. We were then ex
posed for sale in the market-place, which was a
spacious square, N inclosed by ranges of low shops,
in different sections of which were exposed the
various articles intended for sale. One section
was gay with flowers ; another exposed all the
fruits of the season grapes, dates, pomegranates,
and oranges, lay in tempting baskets ; a third was
devoted to sallads and pot herb? ; a fourth to milk
and cream. Between every section was a small
room, where those who come to market might oc
casionally refresh themselves with a pipe of tobac
co, a cud of opium, a glass of sherbet, or other
cooling liquors. Sherbet is composed of lemons,
oranges, sugar, and water it is what we in New
England call beverage. In the centre of the mar
ket an oblong square was railed in, where the deal
ers in beasts and slaves exposed their commodities
118 ALGERINE CAPTIVE.
for sale : here were camels, mules, asses, goats,
hares, dromedaries, women and men, and all other
creatures whether for appetite or use ; and I ob
served that the purchasers turned from one arti
cle to the other with equal indifference. The wo
men slaves were concealed in a latticed shop, but
the men were exposed in open view in a stall sit
uated between those appropriated to the asses and
to the kumrah, a wretched looking though service
able animal in that country, propagated by a jack
upon a cow. I now discovered the reason of the
alteration in our dress ; for, as the people here no
more than in New England love to buy a pig in
the poke, our loose coats were easily thrown open,
and the purchaser had an opportunity of exam
ining into the state of our bodies. It was aston
ishing to observe how critically they examined
my muscles, to see if 1 was naturally strong j
moved my lirnbs in various directions, to detect
any latent lameness or injury in the parts ; and
struck suddenly before my eyes, to judge by my
winking if I was clear sighted. Though I could
not understand their language, I doubt not they
spoke of my activity, strength, age, &c, in the
same manner as we at home talk in the swop of
a horse. One old man was very critical in his
examination of me. He made me walk, run, lie
down, and lift a weight of about sixty pounds.
He went out and soon returned with another man.
They conferred together, and the second was more
critical in his examination than the first. He ob
liged me to run a few rods, and then laid his
band suddenly to my heart, to see, as I conjecture.
ALGERIPTE CAPTIVE. 119
if my wind was good. By the old man I was
purchased. What the price given for me was I
cannot tell. An officer of the market attested the
contract, and I was obliged by the master of the
shop, who sold me upon commission for the benefit
of the persons concerned in the Rover, to lie down
in the street, take the foot of my new master, and
place it upon my neck making to him what the
lawyers call attornment. 1 was then seized by
two slaves, and led to the house of my new mas
ter,
Perhaps the free citizen of the United States
may, in the warmth of his patriotism, accuse me
of a tameness of spirit in submitting to such gross
disgrace. I will not justify myself. Perhaps I
ought to have asserted the dignity of our nation,
in despite of bastinadoes, chains, or even death
itself. Charles the Twelfth of Sweden has how
ever been stigmatised by the historian as a mad
man, for opposing the insulting Turk, when a pris
oner, though assisted by nearly two hundred brave
men. If any of my dear countrymen censure
my want of due spirit, 1 have only to wish hir
in my situation at Algiers, that he may avail him
self of a noble opportunity of suffering gloriously
lor his country.
120 ALtiE&INE CAPTIVE.
CHAP. XXXV.
True ! I talk of dreams,
Which are the children of an idle brain,
Begot of nothing but vain phantasy,
Which is as thin of substance as the air,
And more inconstant than the wind
Who woos
Even now the frozen bosom of the north,
And being anger d, puffs away from ihence.
Turning his face to the dew-dropping south.
SHAKSPEARE,
ARGUMENT.
The Author Dreamcth whilst Awake.
THE higher his rank in society, the further is man
removed from nature. Grandeur draws a circle
round the great, and often excludes from them the
finer feelings of the heart : the wretched are all
of one family, and ever regard each other as
brethren. Among the slaves of my new master
I was received with pity, and treated with ten
derness, bordering upon fraternal affection. They
could not indeed speak my language, and I was
ignorant of theirs ; but by dividing the scanty
meal, composing my couch of straw, and allevia
ting my more rugged labours, they spake that uni
versal language of benevolence which needs no.
linguist to interpret.
It is true I did not meet among my fellow slaves
the rich and the noble, as the dramatist and the
novelist had taught me to expect. To betray a
/
AL.GERINE CAPTIVE. 121
weakness, I will confess that some time after I
was captured I often suffered fancy to cheat me
of my " weary moments," by pourtraying those
scenes which had often amused me in my closet,
and delighted me on the stage. Sometimes I even
contemplated with pleasure the company and con
verse of my fellow slaves. I expected to find
them men of rank at least, if not of learning. I
fancied my master s cook an English lord ; his
valet an Italian duke ; his groom a knight of Mal
ta ; and even his foot- boy some little lively
French marquis. I fancied my future master s
head gardener taking me one side, professing
the warmest friendship, and telling me in confi
dence that he was a Spanish Don with forty noble
names ; that he had fallen in love with my mas
ter s fair daughter, whose mother was a Christian
slave : that the young lady was equally charmed
>vith him ; that she was to rob her father of a
rich casket of jewels, there being no dishonour in
stealing from an infidel ; jump into his arms in
boy s clothes that very night, and escape by a ves
sel already provided to his native country. I saw
in imagination all this accomplished. I saw the
lady descend the rope-ladder ; heard the old man
nnd his servants pursue ; saw the lady carried off
breathless in the arms of her knight ; arrive safe
in Spain ; was present at the lady s baptism into
the catholic church, and at her marriage with her
noble deliverer. I was myself almost stifled with
the caresses of the noble family, for the part I
had borne in this perilous adventure ; and in fine
married to Donna somebody, the Don s beautiful
II
122 ALGERINE CAPTIVE.
sister ; returned into my own country loaded witL
beauty and riches ; and perhaps was aroused from
my reverie by a poor fellow slave, whose extreme
ignorance had almost blunted the sensibility of
bis own wretchedness.
Indeed, so sweet were the delusions of my own
fancy, I am loth to destroy the innocent gratifica
tion which the readers of novels and plays enjoy
from the works of a Behn and a Colman ; but the
sober character of a historian compels me to assure
my readers, that, whatever may have happened
in the sixteenth century, I never saw during my
captivity a man of any rank, family, or fortune,
among the. menial slaves, the Dey, as I have al
ready observed, selecting his tenth prisoner from
those who would most probably afford the richest
ransom : those concerned in the captures are in
fluenced by the same motive. All who may be
expected to be ransomed are deprived of their lib
erty it is true ; but fed, clothed, and never put to
manual labour, except as a punishment for some
actual crime, or attempting to recover their lib-
erty. The menial slaves are generally composed
of the dregs of those nations with whom they are
at war ; but, though my fellow slaves were gross
ly illiterate, I must do them the justice to say they
had learned well the kinder virtues : those virtues
which schools and colleges often fail to teach,
which, as Aristotle well observes, are like a flame
of fire light them up in whatever climate you
will/ they burn and shine ever the simr>
ALGEIUXE CAPTIVE.
CHAP. XXXVI.
One day (may that returning day be night,
The stain, the curse, of each succeeding year !)
For something or for nothing in his pride
Me struck me : while I tell it do 1 live !
YOUNG S REVENGE.
ARGUMENT.
Account of my Master Jlbdel Melic Description
of his House, Wife, Country-house, and severe
Treatment of his slaves.
THE name of my master was Abdel Melic. He
had been formerly an officer in the Dey s troops,
and it was saidx bad rendered the Dey s father
some important service in an insurrection, and was
therefore highly respected ; though at that time he
had no public employment. He was an austere
man ; his natural severity being probably increas
ed by his employment as a military officer. I ne
ver saw the face of any person in his family,
except the male slaves. The houses of the Alge-
rines are nearly all upon the same model, consis
ting of a building towards the street of one or two
stories, which is occupied by the master and male
domestics, and which is connected by a gallery
upon the ground, if the house be of one story ;
h of two, the entrance is above stairs to a building
of nearly the same size behind, which has no win-
or lattices at the side, but looks into a gar-
which fs always surrounded by a high wall,
124 ALGERINE CAPTIVE.
In these back apartments the women are iougf < .,
both wives and slaves. My master had a wife,
the daughterof a principle officer in the Dey s court,
and to my surprise had on y one. I found it tr
be a vulgar error that the Algerines had generally
more. It is true they are allowed four by their iaw ;
but they generally find, as in our country, one lady
sufficient for all the comforts of connubial life, and
never take another, except family alliance or bar
renness renders it eligible or necessary. The
more I became acquainted with their customs, the
more was I struck with their great resemblance to
the patriarchal manners described in Holy Writ.
Concubinage is allowed ; but few respectable peo
ple practise it, except for the sake of heirs. With
the Algerines the barrenness of RACHEL is some
times compensated to the husband by the fertility
of a BILHAH. After I had lived in this town-
house about three weeks, during which time I
\vas clothed after the fashion of the country, my
master moved with his whole family to a country-
house on the river Saffran. Our journey, which
was about twelve miles, was performed in the
evening : two carriages resembling our travelling
waggons contained the women only that the bo
dies of them were latticed, and furnished with cur
tains to cover them in the day time, which were
rolled up in the evening ; two slaves preceded
the carriages ; Abdel Melic followed on horseback,
and i accompanied a baggage-waggon in the rear.
When we arrived at the country-house, the garden
gates were thrown open, and the carriages with
the women entered. The men were introduced to
ALGERINE CAPTlVfc. 125
v . iie front apartments. I found here several more
slaves, equally ignorant and equally attentive and
kind towards ine as those I had seen in the town.
The next day we were all set to work in digging
fcr the foundation of a new wall, which was to
enlarge our master s gardens. The weather was
^itry. The soil below the surface was almost a
quicksand, I, unused to hard labour, found my
strength soon exhausted. My fellow slaves, com
passionating my distress, were anxious, by chan
ging places with me, to render my share of the la-
hour less toilsome. As we had our stint for the
whole party staked out to us every morning, it was
in Ihe power of my kind fellow labourers to fa
vour me much. Often would they request me by
signs to repose myself in the shade, while they
encouraged each s other to perform my share of the
task. After a while our master came to inspect
the work; and conceiving that it did not advance
as fast as he wished, he put an overseer over us,
who, finding me not so active as the rest, first
threatened and then struck me with his whip. This
was the first disgraceful blow I had ever received.
Judge you, my gallant freeborn fellow citizens,
you who rejoice daily in our federal strength and
independence, what were my sensations ! I threw
down my spade with disdain, and retired from my
work, lowering indignation upon my insulting op
pressor. Upon his lifting his whip to strike me
agnin, I flew at him, collared him, and threw him
on his back. Then setting my foot on his breast,
1 called upon my fellow slaves to assist me to bind
the wretch, and to make one glorious effort for o-:r
II*
126 ALGERIXE CAPTIVi!.
freedom. But I called in vain. They could net
comprehend my language ; and if they could, 1
spoke to slaves, astonished at my presunition, ami
dreading the consequences for me and themselves,
After their first astonishment, they ran and took
me gently off from the overseer, and raised him
with the greatest respect. No sooner was he upon
his feet, than, mad with rage, he took up a mat-
toe, and with a violent blow upon my head level
led me to the ground, 1 lay senseless, and was
awakened from my stupor by the severe lashes of
his whip, with which the dastardly wretch continu
ed to beat me until his strength failed. 1 was then
left to the care of my fellow slaves, who could only
wash my wounds with their tears. Complaint was
immediately made to my master, and I was sent
to work in a stone quarry about two miles from
the house. At first 1 rejoiced in escaping the mal
ice of this merciless overseer, but soon found 1 had
made no advantageous exchange. I was surroun
ded by the most miserable objects. My fellow
labourers had been put to this place as a punish
ment for domestic crimes, or for their superiour
strength, and all were obliged to labour equally
hard. To break hard rocks with heavy mauls, to
transport large stones upon our backs up the crag
gy sides of the quarry, were our common labours ;
and to drink water, which would have been delici
ous if cold, and to eat black barley bread and on
ions, our daily fare ; while the few hours allotted
to rest upon our flinty beds were disturbed by the
tormenting insects, or on my part by the more tor
menting dreams of the dainties of my father ? hou.-r-.-
CAPTIVE. 12?
.there is a spring under a rock upon my father s
farm which we called the cold spring, from which
we used to supply our family with water, and
prided ourselves in presenting it as a refreshing
beverage in summer to our visitors. How often,
after working beyond my strength on a sultry Af
rican day in that horrid quarry, have 1 dreamt of
dipping my cup in that cold spring, and fancied
the waters eluding my taste as I raised it to my
lips. Being presented with a tumbler filled from
this spring, after rny return, in a large circle of
friends, the agonies I had suffered came so forcibly
into my recollection, that I could not drink the
water, but had the weakness to melt into tears.
How naturally did the emaciated prodigal in the
Scripture think upon the bread in his fa-her s house.
Bountiful Father of the Universe, how are the
common blessings of thy providence despised !
When I ate of the bread of my fataer s house,
and drank of his refreshing spring, no grateful re
turn was made to him or thee. It was amidst the
parched sands and flinty rocks of Africa that thou
taughtest me, that the bread was indeed pleasant,
and the water sweet. Let those of our fellow
citizens, who set at nought the rich ^blessings of
our federal union, go like me to a load of slave
ry, and they will then learn how to appreciate the
value of our free government.
ALGERINE CAPTIVE,
CHAP. XXXVII.
A Christian is the highest style of man ;
And is there who the blessed cross wipes oil
As a foul blot from his dishonour d brow ?
If angels tremble, tis at such a sight :
The wretch they quit, desponding of their charge.
More struck with grief or wonder, who can tell :
YOUNG.
ARGUMENT.
The Author is encountered by a Rencgado &.
gles between Faith, the World, the Flesh, and
the Devil-.
As I was drooping under my daily (ask, I saw
a young man habited in the Tuikish dress, whose
clear skin and florid cheek convinced me he was
not a native of the country ; whose mild air and
manners betrayed nothing of the ferocity of the
renegade. The style of his turban pronounced
him a Mahometan ; but the look of pity he cast to
wards the Qiristian slaves was entirely inconsis
tent with the pious hauteur of the mussulman for
Christian dog is expressed as strongly by the fea
tures as the tongue of him they call a true believer.
He arrested my attention. For a moment I sus
pended my labour. At the same moment an un
merciful lasli from the whip of the slave-driver re
called my attention to my work, and excited his
who was the cause of my neglect. At his ap
proach the slave-driver quitted me. The stran
ger accosted me, and in good English cummisera-
ALGER1NE OAPT1VL. 129
ted uny distresses, which he ssid, he should deplore
the more if they were remediless. When a man
is degraded to the most abject slavery, lost to his
friends, neglected by his country, and can antici
pate no rest but in the grave, is not his situation
remediless ? 1 replied. Renounce the Christian,
and embrace the Mahometan faith, you are no lon
ger a slave, and the delights of life await you, re
torted he. You see me. I am an Englishman,
For three years after my captivity, like you I
groaned under the lash of the slave-driver ; I ate
the scanty morsel of bitterness, moistened with my
tears. Borne down by the complicated ills of
fcunger and severe labour, I was carried to the
infirmary for slaves, to breath my last, where I
was visited by a mollah, or Mahometan priest.
He pitied the misfortunes of a wretch who, he
said, had suffered a cruel existence in this life,
and had no rational hopes of exchanging it for a
better. He opened the great truths of the mussul-
man faith. By his assistance 1 recovered my
health, and was received among the faithful. Em
braced and protected by the rich and powerful,
1 have now a house in the city, a country resi
dence on the Saffran, two beautitul wives, a train
of domestics ; and a respectable place in the Dey s
customs defrays the expense. Come, added he,
let me send my friend the mollah to you. He will
remove your scruples, and in a few days you will
be as free and happy as I am. I looked at him
with astonishment. I had ever viewed the charac
ter of an apostate as odious and detestable. I turn
ed from him with abhorrence, and for once embra-
130 ALGERINE CAPTIVE.--
ced my burthen with pleasure. Indeed I pity*
you, said he. I sorrow for your distresses and
pity your prejudices. I pity you too, replied I,
the tears standing in my eyes. My body is in
slavery, but my mind is free. Your body is at
liberty, but your soul is in the most abject slavery.
in the gall of bitterness and bond of iniquity.
You have sold your God for filthy lucre ; and * wha:
shall it profit you if you gain the whole world and
lose your own soul ? or what shall a man give in
exchange for his soul ?" I respect your prejudices,
said the stranger, because I have been subject to
them myself. I was born in Birmingham in Eng
land, and educated a rigid dissenter. No man is
more subject to prejudice than an Englishman, and
no sectary more obstinately attached to his tenets
than the dissenter. But 1 have conversed with
the mollah, and 1 am convinced of the errors of
my education. Converse with him likewise. If
he does not convince you, you may glory in the
Christian faith, as that faith will be then founded
on rational preference, and not merely on your ig
norance of any other religious system. Suggest
the least desire to converse with the mollah, and
an order from the mufti will come to your master.
You will be clothed and fed at the public expence ;
be lodged one month in the college of the priest ;
and not returned to your labours, until the priest
shall declare you incorrigible. He then left me.
The heat increased, and my strength wasted.
The prospect of some alleviation from labour,
and perhaps a curiosity to hear what could be
said in favour of so detestably ridiculous a system
ALGERINE CAPTIVE. 131
as the Mahometan imposture, induced me, when
I saw the Englishman again, to signify my consent
to converse with the moilah.
CHAP. XXXVIII.
Hear I t or dream I hear, that distant strain,
Sweet to the soul and tasting strong of Heaven,
Soft wafted on celestial pity s plume ?
ANON*
ARGUMENT.
The Author is carried to the Sacred College oj
the Mussulman Priest The Mortifications and
Austerites of the Mahometan Recluse The Mus
sulman Mode of Proselyting.
THE next day an order came from the mufti to my
master, who receiving it touched his forehead with
the tefta respecfully, and directed rne to be in
stantly delivered to the moilah. I was carried
to the college a large gloomy building on the
outside, but within the walls an earthly paradise.
The stately rooms, refreshing baths, cooling foun
tains, luxuriant gardens, ample larders, rich car
pets, downy sofas, and silken mattresses, offered
with profusion all those soft excitements to indolent
pleasure which the most refined voluptuary could
desire. 1 have often observed, that, in all coun
tries, except New England, those whose profes
sion it is to decry the luxuries and vanities of this
132 ALGERINE CAPTIVE.
world some how or other contrive to possess the
greatest portion of them.
Immediately upon my entering these sacred
walls I was carried to a warm bath, into which
i was immediately plunged ; while my attendants,
as if emulous to cleanse me from all the filth of
error, rubbed me so hard with their hands and flesh-
brushes, that I verily thought they would have
flayed me. While 1 was still in a state of re
laxation from the use of the warm bath, I was
suddenly plunged into a contiguous cold one. I
confess I apprehended dangerous consequences
from so sudden a check of such violent perspira*
tion ; but I arose from the cold bath highly invig
orated.* I was then anointed, in all the parts
of my body which had been exposed to the sun,
with a preparation of gum, called the balm of
Mecca. This application excited a very uneasy
sensation, similar to the stroke of the water-pepper 3
to which " the liberal shepherds give a grosser
name." In twenty-four hours the sun-browned
* The Indian . of North America surprised the
European physician by a process founded on simi
lar principles. The patient, in the most violent fe
ver, was confined in a low hut, built of turf and
flat stones, which had been previously heated by fire.
When the profnsest perspiration was thus excited,
the patient was carried, and often, with Indian for
titude, ran, to the next stream, and plunged fre
quently through the ice into the coldest water. This
process, which Boerliaave and Sydenharil would
have pronounced deletery, ever produced pristine
health and vigour, when prescribed by the Indian
physician, or pew-wow.
AtGERINE CAPTIVE. 133
cuticle peeled off, and left my face, hands, legs,
and neck, as fair as a child s of six months old,
This balm the Algerine ladies procure at a great
expense, and use it as a cosmetic to heighten
their beauty.
After I had been clothed in the drawers, slip
pers, loose coat, and shirt of the country ? if shirt
it could be called, which neck had none ; my
hands and feet were tinged yellow, with a decoc
tion of the herb henna ; which colour, they said
denoted purity of intention. I was lodged and
fed well, and suffered to amuse myself and re
cover my health of body and mind. On the
eleventh day, as I was reclining on the margin of
a retired fountain, reflected on my dearnative coun
try, I was joined by the mollah. He was a man of
about thirty years of age, of the most pleasing
countenance and engaging deportment. He was*
born at Antioch, and educated a Christian of the
Greek church. He was designed by his parents
for a preferment in that church, when he was cap
tured by the Algerines, and almost immediately
conformed to the mussulman faith ; and was hi
high esteem in the sacred college of the priests,
As he spoke Latin and some modern languages
fluently, was well versed in the Bible and Chris
tian doctrines, he wit often employed in prosely
ting the European slaves, and prided himself ia
his frequent success.
He accosted me with the sweetest modulation
of voice ; kindly inquired after my welfare ; beg
ged to know if my lodging, dress, and fare, were
agreeable ; assuring me that if I wished to
12
134 ALGER1NK CAPTIVE.
either, in such a manner as to bring them nearer to
the fare and modes of my native country, and
would give my directions, they should be obeyed.
He requested me to appoint a time when we might
converse upon the great subject ot religion. He
observed that he wished me free from bodily indis
position, and that the powers of my mind would
recover their activity. He said the holy faith he
offered to my embraces disdained the use of other
powers than rational argument ; that he left to the
church of Rome and its merciless inquisitors all
the honour and profit of conversion by faggots,
dungeons, and racks. He made some further in
quiry as to my usage in the college, and retired.
1 had been so long accustomed to the insolence
of domestic tyranny ; so often groaned under the
whip and burthen ; so often been buffeted, spurned,
and spit upon, that I had steeled my mind against
the force and terror I anticipated from the mollah ;
but was totally unprepared for such apparent can
dour and gentleness. Though i viewed his conduct
as insidious, yet he no sooner retired, than, over
come by his suavity of manners, for the first
time ! trembled for my faith, and burst into tears.
ALGERINE CAPTIVE, 135
CHAP. XXXIX.
-But pardon, gentles all,
The flat unraised spirit that hath dared,
On this unworthy scaffold, to bring forth
So great an object.
SHAKSPEARE,
ARGUMENT.
The Author confereth with a Mollah, or Mahome
tan Priest Defendeth the Verity of the Chris
tian Creed, and resigns his Body to Slavery, to
preserve the Freedom of his Mind.
UPON the margin of a refreshing fountain, shad
owed by the fragrant branches of the orange,
date, and pomegranate, for five successive days
I maintained the sacred truths of our holy religion
against the insidious attack of the mussulman priest.
To be more perspicuous, I have condensed our
conversation, and, to V! avoid useless repetition,
have assumed the manner of a dialogue.
Mollah. Born in New England, my friend,
you are a Christian purified by Calvin. Born in
the Campania of Rome, you had been a papist.
Nursed by the Hindoos, you would have entered
the pagoda with reverence, and worshipped the soul
of your ancestor in a duck. Educated on the bank of
the Wolga, the Delia Lama had been your god. In
China you would have worshipped Tien and per
fumed Confucius, as you bowed in adoration be
fore the tablets of your ancestors. Cradled with
136 ALGERINE CAPTIVE.
the Parsees of Indostan, you had adored fire, and
trembled with pious awe as you presented your
rice and your ghee to the adorable cock and dog.
A wise man adheres not to his religion because
it was that of his ancestors. He will examine the
creeds of other nations, compare them with his
own, and hold fast that which is right.
Author. You speak well. I will bring my re- -
ligion to the test. Compare it with the the
Mollah. Speak out boldly. No advantage
shall be taken. You would say with the Mahom
etan imposture. To determine which of two re
vealed religions is best, two inquiries are alone
necessary. First, which of them has the highest
proof of its divine origin ? and which inculcates
the purest morals ? that is, of which have we the
greatest certainty that it came from God ? and
which is calculated to do most good to mankind ?
Author. True. As to the first point, our Bi
ble was written by men divinely inspired.
Mollah. Our Alcoran was writen by the finger
of the Deity himself. But who told you your
Bible was written by men divinely inspired ?
Author. We have received it from our ances
tors ; and we have as good evidence for the truths
it contains, as we have in profane history for any
historical fact.
Mollah. And so have we for the Alcoran. Our
,sacred and profane writers all prove the existence
of such a prophet as Mahomet, that he received
the sacred volume from the hand of Gabriel, and
the traditions of our ancestors confirm our faith-
ALGERINE CAPTIVE. 137
Author. We know that the Christian religion
is true, from its small beginnings and wonderful
increase. None but the Deity himself could have
enabled a few illiterate fishermen to spread a reli
gion over the world, and perpetuate it to posterity.
Mollah. Your argument 1 allow to be forcible,
but grant us also the use of it. Mahomet was an
illiterate camel-driver. Could he, who could not
read or write, have published a book, which for
its excellence has astonished the world ? Would
the learned of Medina and Mecca have become his
disciples ? Could Omer and Abubeker, his suc
cessors, men equally illiterate have become the ad
miration of the world ? If you argue from the
astonishing spread of your faith, .view our prophet,
born five hundred and sixty nine years, and dating
the promulgation df his doctrine six hundred and
twenty years, after the birth of your prophet.
See the extensive countries of Persia, Arabia, Syria
Egypt, all rejoicing in its benign influence. See
our holy failh pouring its divine rays of light into
Russia and Tartary. See it received by en
lightened Greece, raising its crescent through the
rast Turkish empire and the African states. See
Palestine and Jerusalem, the birth place of your
prophet, filled with the disciples of ours. See
Asia and Africa, and a great part of Europe, ac-
knowledgeing the unity of God, and the missior*
of his prophet. In a word, view the world. See
two Mahometans, men professing a religion,
which arose six hundred and twenty years after
yours, to one Christian, computing Christians of
:*J1 denominations, and then give your argument
138 ALGERINL CAPTIVE.
of the miraculous spread of religion its due
weight.
My blood boiled to hear this infidel vaunt him
self thus triumphantly against my faith ; and, if
it had not been for a prudence which in hours of
zeal 1 have since had cause to lament, I should
have taken vengeance of him upon the spot. I
restrained my anger, and observed that our reli
gion is supported by miracles.
Mollah. So is ours ; which is the more re
markable, because our great prophet declared he
was not sent into the world to work miracles, but
to preach the unity of the first cause, the resurrec
tion of the dead, the bliss of paradise, and the
torments of the damned. Yet his whole life was
a miracle. He was no sooner born, than, with a
voice like the thundering of Hermon, he pronoun
ced the adorable creed to his mother and nurses :
/ profess that there is only one God, and that I
am his apostle. He was circumcised from all
eternity : and besides, at the same hour, a voice
of four mighty angels was heard proclaiming from
the four corners of the holy house ; the first saying,
4 Proclaim the truth is risen, and all lies shall
return into hell ; the second uttering, Now is
born an apostle of your own nation, and the Om
nipotent is with him ; the words of the third
were, A book full of illustrious light is sent to
you from God ; and the fourth voice was heard
to say, O Mahomet, we have sent thee to be a
prophet, apostle, and guide to the world!
When the apostle of God was about three
years old, the blessed child retired into a cave at
ALGERINE CAPTIVE. 139
the foot of mount Uriel, where the archangel Ga
briel, covering his face with his wings, in awful
respect approached him, saying, Bismillahi Rrah-
mani Rrhahimi ; in the name of the one Almigh
ty, Compassionate, and Merciful, I am sent to
pluck from thy heart the root of evil ; for thy
prayers have shaken the pillars of eternal decree.
The infant prophet said, The will of thy Lord
and mine be done. The archangel then opened
his bosom with a lancet of adamant, and taking
out his heart, squeezed from it the black drop of
original sin ; and having restored the heart, sunk
gently into the bosom of the Houri.
Do you wish for more miracles ? Hear how the
prophet, in the dark night, passed the seven heav
ens upon the sacred mule ; of the mighty angel
he saw, of such astonishing magnitude that it was
twelve thousand days journey in the space be
tween his eye-brows ; of the years he spent in
perusing the book of destiny ; and how he return
ed so speedily, that the mattress was not cold, and
he recovered the pitcher at his bed-side, which
he had overset at his departure, so that not one
drop of water was lost. Contrast these with
those of your prophet. He then vented a volume
of reproach horrible to hear, and too blasphemous
to defile my paper.
Author. Our religion was disseminated in
peace ; yours was promulgated by the sword.
Mollah. My friend, you surely have not read
the writings of your own historians. The history
of the Christian church is a detail of bloody
nsassacre ; from the institution of the Christian
*40 ALGER1NE CAPTIVE.
thundering legion under Constantine the Great,
(o the expulsion of the Moors out of Spain by
the ferocious inquisition, or the dragooning of the
Hugonots from France under Louis the Great.
The Massulmans never yet forced a man to adopt
their faith. When Ahubeker the caliph took a
Christian city, he forebore to enter a principal
church, because he would be led to pray in any
temple dedicated to God ; ^nd wherever he pray
ed, the building would be established as a mosque
by the piety of the faithful. The companions
and successors of the apostle conquered cities and
kingdoms, like other nations. They gave civil
laws to the conquered, according to the laws of
nations ; but they never forced the conscience of
any man. It is true, they then, and we now, when
a slave pronounces the ineffable creed, immedi
ately knock off his fetters and receive him as a
brother ; because we read in the book of Zuni
that the souls of true believers are bound up in
one fragrant bundle of eternal love. We leave
it to the Chistians of the West Indies, and Chris
tians of your southern plantations, to baptise the
unfortunate African into your faith, and then use
your brother Christians as brutes of the desert.
Here I was so abashed for my country, I could
not answer him.
Jluthor. But you hold a sensual paradise.
Mdlah. So the doctors of your church tell
you ; but a sensual heaven is no more imputable
to us than to you. When the Most Holy conde
scends to reveal himself to man in human lan
guage, it nuj3t be in terms commensurate with our
ALGERIXE CAPTIVE. 141
conception. The enjoyment of the houri, those
immortal virgins who will attend the beautified be
liever, (he splendid pavilious of the heavens, are
all but types and significations of holy joys too
sublime for man in flesh to conceive of. In your
Bible, I read, your prophet refers to the time when
he should drink new wine in his father s kingdom/
Now would it be candid in me to hastily brand the
heaven of your prophet as sensual, and to repre
sent your faithful in bliss as a club of wine-bib
bers ?
Author. But you will allow the pre-eminence
of the morality of the sacred Scriptures.
Mollah. Your Scriptures contain many excel
lent rules of life. You are there taught to be
kindly affectionate one towards another ; but they
recommend the u$e of wine, and do not forbid
gaming. The Alcoran, by forbidding in express
terms the use of either, cuts from its follower the
two principal sources of disquiet and misery.
Read then this spotless book. There you will
learn to love those of our faith, and not hate those
of any other. You will learn the necessity of
being virtuous here, that you may be happy and
not miserable hereafter. You will learn resigna
tion to the will of the Holy One ; because you
will know that all the events of your life were, in
the embryo of time, forged on the anvils of Di
vine Wisdom. In a word, you will learn the uni
ty of God, which, notwithstanding the cavil of
your divines, your prophet, like ours, came into
the world to establish, and every msn of reason
must Relieve. You need, not renounce your propb-
142 ALGERINE CAPTIVE.
et. Him we respect as a great apostle of God ;
but Mahomet is the seal of the prophets. Turn
then, my friend, from slavery to the delights of
life. Throw off the shackles of education from
your soul, and be welcome to the joys of the true
believer. Lift your finger to the immensity of
space, and confess that there is one God, and that
Mahomet is his apostle.
I have thus given a few sketches of the manner
of this artful priest. After five days conversation,
disgusted with his fables, abashed by his assur-
, ance, and almost confounded by his sophistry, 1 re
sumed my slave s attire, and sought safety in my
former servitude.
CHAP. XL.
, Bt cest iinguc, nest forsque un term similitudinarie*
ct est a tant a dire, /lotc/ifwt.
COKE on Littleton, lib. iii. sec. 268.
ARGUMENT.
The Language of the Algennes.
THE very day I was dismissed from the college
of the priests I was returned to my master, and
the next morning sent again to labour in the quar
ry. To my surprise no harsh reflections were
made upon what these true believers must have
styled my obstinate prejudice against the true
faith j for I am sensible that my master was so
ALGERINE CAPTlVEo 143
good a mussulman as to have rejoiced in my con
version, though it might affect his purse. I expe
rienced the extremest contumely and severity ; but
I was never branded as a heretic. I had by this
time acquired some knowledge of their language,
if language it could be called, which bade defiance
to moods and tenses, appearing to be the shreds-
and clippings of all the tongues, dead and living,
ever spoken since the creation. It is well known
on the sea-coasts of the Mediterranean by the
name of Lingua Franca. Probably it had its rise
in the aukward endeavours of the natives to con
verse with strangers from all parts of the world ;
aud the vulgar people, calling all foreigners Franks,
supplied its name. I the more readily acquired
this jargon, as it contained many Latin derivatives,
If 1 have conjectured the true principles upon
which the Lingua Franca was originally formed,
that principle is still applied through all stages of
its existence. Every person assumes a right to
introduce words and phrases from his vernacular
tongue, and with some alteration in accent they
are readily adopted.*
This medley of sounds is spoken by the vul
gar, but people of higher rank pride themselves
* I well recollect, being once at a loss to name a
composition of boiled barley, rice, and treacle, I cal-
Ifed for the hasty fiudding and molasses. The
phrase was immediately adopted ; and haschi fiudah
molaschi is now a synonima with the ancient name.
And I doubt not, if a dictionary of the Lingua
Franca shall ever be compiled, the name of the
staple cooker}- of New Fsnglaad will have a conspi
cuous place.
144 ALGERINE CAPTIVE,
in speaking pure Arabic. My conference- with
the inollah was effected in Latin, which that priest
pronounced very differently from the learned
president and professors of Harvard college ; but
fte delivered himself with fluency and elegance.
CHAP. XLI.
With aspect sweet as heavenly messenger
On deeds of mercy sent, a form appears :
Unfading chaplets bloom upon her brow,
-j&ternal smiles play o y er her winning face,
And frequent promise opes her flattering lips,
*. Tis HOPE, who from the dayless dungeon
, Points the desponding wretch to scenes of bliss ;
And ever and anon she draws the veil
Of blank futurity, and shows him where,
Far, far beyond the oppressor s cruel grasp,
His malice and his chains he shares again
The kindred mirth and feast under the roof
Paternal, or beside his social fire
Presses the lovely partner of his heart ;
While the dear pledges of their mutual love
Gamble around in sportive innocence.
Anon th illusive phantom mocks his sight,
And leaves the frantic wretch to die
In pristine darkness, fetters, and despair !
AUTHOR S Manuscript Poems.
ARGUMENT.
The Author plans an Escape.
i FOUND at my return many more slaves at work
m the stone quarry than when I quitted it ; and
ALGERINE CAPTIVE. 145
the labour and hard fare seemed, if possible, to
be augmented. The ease and comfort with which
I lived for some weeks past had vitiated my
appetite, softened my hands, and relaxed my
whole frame, so that my coarse fare and rugged
labours seemed more insupportable. I nauseated
our homely food, and the skin peeled from my
hands and shoulders. I made what inquiries f
could as to the interior geography of the coun
try, and comforted myself with the hope of es
cape ; conceiving it, under my desperate cir
cumstances, possible to penetrate unobserved the
interior country by the eastern boundaries of the
kingdom of Morocco, and then pass on south
west until I met the river Sanaga, as cour
sing that to its mouth I knew would bring me
to some of the European settlements near Go-
ree of Cape Verd. Preparatory to my intended
escape I had procured an old goat s skin, to
make which into something like a knapsack I
deprived myself of many hours of necessary
sleep, and of many a scanty meal to fill it with
provisions. By the use of my Lingua Franca
and a little Arabic, I hoped to obtain the as
sistance of the slaves and lower orders of the
people through whom I might journey. The on
ly insurmountable difficulty hi my projects was
to elude the vigilance of our overseers. By a
kind of roll-call the slaves were numbered every
night and morning, and at meal times : but, very
fortunately, a probable opportunity of escaping
unnoticed soon offered. It was announced to the
slaves that in three days tinae there would be a
13
148 ALGERINE CAPTIVE.
day of rest, a holiday, when they would be al
lowed to recreate themselves in the fields. This
intelligence diffused general joy. I received it
with rapture. I doubled my diligence in my
preparations ; and, in the afternoon previous to
this fortunate day, I contrived to place my lit
tle stock of provisions under a rock at a small
distance from the quarry. At sunset we were
all admitted to bathe, and 1 retired to my re
pose with bright hopes of freedom in my heart,
which were succeeded by the most pleasing
dreams of my native land. That beneficent Be
ing who brightens the slumbers of the wretched
with rays of bliss can alone express my raptures,
when, in the visions of that night, I stepped
lightly over a father s threshold, was surrounded
by congratulating friends and faithful domestics,
was pressed by the embraces of a father, and with
holy joy lelt a mother s tears moisten my cheek.
Early in the dawn of the morning, I was awa
kened by the congratulations of my fellows, who
immediately collected in small groups, planning
out the intended amusements of the day. Scarce
had they portioned the little space allotted to ease
according to their various inclinations, when an ex
press order came from our master that we should
go, under immediate direction of our overseers, to
a plain, about five miles distance, to be present
at a public spectacle. This was a grievous dis
appointment to them, and more especially to me.
I buoyed up my spirits however with the hopes
that in the hurry and crowd 1 might find means to
escape, which although I knew I could not return
ALGERINE CAPTIVE. 147
for my knapsack, I was resolved to attempt, hav
ing a little millet and two onions in my pocket.
CHAP. XLII.
Oh beasts, of pity void ! to oppess the weak,
To point your vengeance at the friendless head"
ANON-
ARGUMENT.
. ,.. The Author present at a Public Spectacle.
WE were soon paraded, and reached to the plain
to be amused with the promised spectacle, which,
notwithstanding it might probably frustrate my at
tempts for freedom, I anticipated with a pleasing
curiosity. When we arrived at the plain, we
found surrounding a spot fenced in wiih a slight
railing, a large concourse of people, among whom
I could discern many groups of men, whose ha
bits arid sorrow-indented faces showed them to be
of the same miserable order with us. In the midot
of this spot there was a frame erected, somewhat
resembling the stage of our pillories ; on the centre
of which a pole or strong stake was erected, sharp
ened at the end, and pointed with steel. While I was
perplexing myself with the design of this appara
tus, military music was heard at a distance .; and
soon after a strong party of guards approached the
scaffold, and soon mounted upon the stage a mis
erable wretch, with all the agonies of despair in
148 ALGERINE CAPTIVE.
his countenance, who, I learned from his sentence
proclaimed by a public crier, was to be empaled
alive for attempting to escape from bondage. The
consciousness that I had been, one moment before,
meditating the same act for which this wretch was
to suffer so cruelly, added to my feelings for a fel
low creature, excited so strong a sympathy for the
devoted wretch, that 1 was near fainting.
I will not wound the sensibility of my human
fellow citizens by a minute detail of this fiend-hke
punishment. Suffice it to say, that, after they had
stripped the sufferer naked, except a cloth around
the loins, they inserted the iron pointed stake in
to the lower termination of the vertebrae, and thence
forced it up near his back bone until it appeared
between his shoulders, with devilish ingenuity con-
contriving to avoid the vital parts. The slake
was then raised into the air, and the suffering
wretch exposed to the view of the assembly, wn-
thincr in all the contortions of insupportable agony*
Hovv long he lived I cannot tell ; I never gave but
one look at him : one was enough to appal a
New-England heart. I laid my head on the rails
until we "retired. It was now obvious it was de-
<=ie;ned by our master that this horrid spectacle
should operate upon us as a terrifying example.
It had its full effect on me. I thought no more
of attempting an escape; but, during our return
was miserably tormented lest my knapsack and
provisions should be found and adduced against me,
as ^vidence of my intent to desert. Happily for
me I recovered them the next day, and no suspi=
cions of my design were entertained,
ALGERINE CAPTIVE. 149
CHAP. XLIII.
If perchance thy home
Salute thee with a father s honoured name,
Go call thy sons, instruct them what a debt
They owe their ancestors, and make them swear
To pay it, by tansmitting down entire
Those sacred rites to which themselves were born.
AKENSIDE.
ARGUMENT.
The Author feels that he is indeed a Slave.
I NOW found that 1 was indeed a slave. My body
had been enthralled, but the dignity of a free
mind remained ; and the same insulted pride,
which had impelled me to spurn the villain slave-
driver who first struck me a disgraceful blow, had
often excited a surly look of contempt upon my
master and the vile instruments of his oppression ;
but the terror of the late execution, with the un-
abating fatigue of my body, had so depressed my
fortitude, that I trembled at the look of the over
seer, and was meanly anxious to conciliate his fa
vour by attempting personal exertions beyond my
ability. The trite story of the insurgent army
of the slaves of ancient Rome being routed by the
mere menaces and whips of their masters, which
I had ever sceptically received, 1 now credited.
A slave myself, 1 have learnt to appreciate the
blessings of freedom. May my countrymen ever
preserve and transmit to their posterity that liberty
which they have bled to obtain ; and always bear
13*
150 ALGER1NE CAPTIVE.
it deeply engraven upon their memories, that when
men are once reduced to slavery, they can never
resolve, much more achieve, any thing that is man
ly, virtuous, or great !
Depression of spirits consequent upon my blast
ed hope of escape, coarse fare, and constant fa
tigue, reduced me to a mere skeleton : while over
exertion brought on an hemoptysis, or expectora
tion of blood, and menaced an approaching hectic.
Soon after, fainting under my burden, I was taken
up, and conveyed in a horse-litter to the infirmary
for slaves, in the city of Algiers.
CHAP. XL1V.
Oft have I prov d the labours of thy love,
And the warm effort of thy gentle heart,
Anxious to please.
BLAIR S GRAVE.
ARGUMENT.
The Infirmary.
HERE I was lodged comfortably, and had all the
attention paid me which good nurses and ignorant
physicians could render. The former were men
who had made a vow of poverty, and whose pro
fession was to attend the couches of the sick ; the
latter were more ignorant than those of my own
country, who had amused me in the gayer days of
I lie. They had no theory, nor any systematic
ALGERINE CAPTIVE* 151
practice. But it was immaterial to me ; I had
cast my last anxious thoughts upon my dear native
land, had blessed my affectionate parents, and was
resigned to die.
One day, as I was sunk upon my bed after a
violent fit of coughing, I was awakened from a
doze by a familiar voice which accosted me in
Latin. 1 opened my eyes, and saw at my side
the mollah who attempted to destroy my faith.
It immediately struck me that his purpose was to
tempt me to apostatize in my last moments. The
religion of my country was all 1 had left of the
many blessings I once enjoyed in common with
my fellow citizens. This rendered it doubly dear
to me. Not that I was insensible of the excel
lence and verity of my faith ; no. If I had
been exposed to severer agonies than I suffered,
and had been flattered with all the riches and hon
ours these infidels could bestow, I trust I should
never have foregone that faith, which assured me,
for the miseries I sustained in a cruel separation
from my parents, friends, and under intolerable
slavery, a rich compensation in that future world,
where I should rejoin my beloved friends, and
where sorrow, misery, or slavery, should never
come, I judged uncandidly of the priest. He
accosted me with the same gentleness as when at
the college, commiserated my deplorable situation,
and, upon my expressing an aversion to talk upon
religion, assured me that he disdained taking any
advantage of my weakness ; nor would attempt
to deprive me of the consolation of my faith ?
when he feared I had no time left to ground
152 ALGEEINE CAPTIVE.
a better. He recommended me to the particular
care of the religious, who attended the sick in the
hospital ; and having learned in our former con
ferences that I was educated a physician, he in
fluenced his friend the director of the infirmary
to purchase me, if I regained my health, and told
him I should be serviceable as a minor assistant.
If any man could have effected a change of
my religion, it was this priest. I was charmed
with the man, though I abominated his faith. His
very smile exhilarated my spirits and infused
health ; and, when he repeated his visits, and
communicated his plans of alleviating my distres
ses, the very idea of being freed from the oppres
sions of Abdel Melic made an exchange of slavery
appear desirable. I was again attached to life,
and requested him to procure a small quantity of
the quinquina, or Jesuit s bark. This excellent
: ciiic was unknown in the infirmary ; but as
\lgerines are all fatalists, it is immaterial to
the patient who is his physician and what he pre
scribes. By his kindness the bark was procured,
and I made a decoction, as near to Huxham s as
the ingredients I could procure would admit, which
1 infused in wine ; no brandy being allowed even
lor the sick. In a few weeks the diagnostics were
favourable, and I recovered my pristine health ;
and soon after the director of the hospital purchas
ed me of my late master, and I was appointed
to the care of the medicine room, with permission
to go into the city for fresh supplier
ALGERINE CAPTIVE. 153
CHAP. XLV.
Hail, ^Esculapians ! hail, ye Coan race !
Thro earth and sea, thro chaos boundless space ;
Whether in Asia s pamper d courts ye shine,
Or Afric s deadly realms beneath the line !
PATENT ADDRESS,
ARGUMENT.
The Author s Practice as a Surgeon and Physician
in the City of Algiers.
MY circumstances were now so greatly ameliora
ted, that if I could have been assured of returning
to my native country in a few years, I should have
esteemed them eligible. To observe the customs,
habits, and manners, of a people of whom so
much is said and so little known at home, and
especially to notice the medical practice of a na
tion whose ancestors have been spoken of with
respect in the annals of the healing art, was high
ly interesting.
After a marked and assiduous attention of some
months to the duties of my office, I acquired the
confidence of my superiors so far, that I was some
times sent abroad in the city to examine a patient,
who had applied for admission into the infirmary ;
and sometimes the physicians themselves would
condescend to consult me. Though they affected
to despise my skill, I had often the gratification
of observing that they administered my prescrip
tions with success.
154 AL.GERINE CAPTIVE,
In surgery they were arrant bunglers. Indeed,
their pretensions to knowledge in this branch were
so small, that iny superior adroitness scarcely oc
casioned envy. Applications, vulgarly common
in the United States, were there viewed with ad
miration. The actual cautery was their only
method of staunching an external haemorrhage.
The first amputation I operated drew all the prin
cipal physicians around me. Nothing could equal
their surprise at the application of the spring tour
niquet, which I had assisted a workman to make
for the occasion, except the taking up of the arte
ries. My friend the mollah came to congratulate
me on my success, and spread my reputation
wherever he visited. A poor creature was brought
to the hospital with a depressed fracture upon the
os frontis, sunk into a lethargy, and died. I pro
posed trepanning, but found those useful instru
ments unknown in this country. By the care of
the director, I had a set made under my direction ;
but, after having performed upon a dead, I never
could persuade the Algerine faculty to permit me
to operate upon a living, subject. What was
more amusing, they pretended to improve the aid
of philosophy against me, and talked of the weight
of a column of air pressing upon the dura mater,
which, they said, would cause instant death. Of
all follies, the foppery of learning is the most in
supportable. Professional ignorance and obstina
cy were not all I had to contend with ; religious
prejudice was a constant impediment to my sue*
cess. The bigotry of the Mahometan differs es-
.sentially from that of the Roman-catholic. The
ALGERINE CAPTIVE. J O.>
former is a passive, the latter an active, principle,.
The papist will burn infidels and heretics ; theMus-
sulman never torments the unbeliever, but is more
tenaciously attached to his own creed, makes his
faith- a principle in life, and never suffers doubt to
disturb or reason to overthrow it. I verily believe
that if the Alcoran had declared that the earth was
an immense plain and stood still, while the sun
performed its revolution round it, a whole host of
Gallileos, with a Newton at their head, could not
have shaken their opinion, though aided by all the
demonstrative powers of experimental philosophy,
I was invited by one of the faculty to inspect
the eyes of a child which had lost its sight about
three years ; I proposed couching, and operated
on the right eye with success. This child was
the only son of an opulent Algerine, who, being
informed that an infidel had restored his son to
sight, refused to let me operate on the other, pro
testing that if he had known that the operator was
an unbeliever, his son should have remained blind
until he opened his eyes upon the houri of para
dise. He sent me however a present of money,
and offered to make my fortune if I would abjure
the Christian faith and embrace Ismaelism, which,
he said, he believed I should one day do : as he
thought that God never would have decreed that I
should restore his son to sight, if he had not also
decreed that 1 should be a true believer.
156 ALGERINE CAPTIVE.
CHAP. XLVI.
Ryghte thenne there settenne onne a garyshe seatte
A statlie dame lyche to an aunciant mayde ;
Great nationes and hygh kynges lowe at her feette,
Obeyseenes mayde, as if of herre afrayede,
As overe theme her yronne rodde she swayde.
Hyghte customme was the loftie tyrantes namme,
Habyte bye somme yclypt the worldlinges godde,
Panym and faythsman bowe before the darne,
Ne lawe butte yeldethe to her sovrenne nodde,
Reasonne her foemanne couchenne at her rodde.
FRAGMENT OF ANCIENT POETRY,
ARGUMENT.
Visits a sick Lady.
MY reputation increased, and I was called the
learned slave ; and soon after sent for to visit a
sick lady. This was very agreeable to me ; for,
during my whole captivity, I had never yet seen
the face of a woman ; even the female children
being carefully concealed, at least from the sight
of the vulgar. I now anticipated much satisfac
tion from this visit, and hoped that through the
confidence with which a tender and successful
physician seldom fails to inspire his patient, I
should be able to acquire much useful information
upon subjects of domestic concern, impervious
to travellers. Prepararory to this visit I had
received a new and better suit of clothes than I
had worn, as a present from the father of the
ALGER1NE CAPTIVE. 157
voting lady. A gilt waggon came to the gate
of the hospital, which I entered with our princi
pal physician, and was drawn by mules to a
country-house about five miles from the city, vyhere
I was received by Hadgi Mulladin, the father of
my patient, with great civility : real gentlemen
are the same in all countries. He treated us
with fruit and sherbet ; and smiling upon me
after he had presented a bowl of sherbet to the
principal physician, he handed me another bowl,
which, to my surprise, 1 found filled with an
excellent Greek wine, and archly inquired of mo
how I liked the sherbet* Hadgi Mulladin had
travelled in his youth, and was supposed to have
imbibed the libertine principles of the Chris
tian as it respected wine. This was the only
instance which came to rny knowledge of any
professed Mussulman indulging himself with wine
or any strong liquor ; and it was not unnoticed
by the principal physician, who afterwards grave
ly told me that Hadgi Mulladin would be undoubt
edly damned for drinking wine ; would be con
demned to perpetual thirst in the next world,
while the black spirit would present him with red
hot cups of scalding wine. Exhilarated by the
wine and the comparatively free manners of this
Algerine, 1 was anxious to see my patient. I
was soon gratified. Being introdced into a large
room, I was left alone nigh an hour. A side door
was then opened, and two eunuchs came forward
with much solemnity and made signs for me to
retire to the farthest part of the room, as if I had
been infested with some malignant disorder ~
14
15$ ALGER1NE CAPTlTg.
They were, in about ten minutes, followed by
four more persons of the same description, bear
ing a species of couch close covered with double
curtains of silk, which they set down in the midst
of the room ; and every one drew a broad scyme-
tar from his belt, flourished it in the air, inclined
it over his shoulder, and stood guard at every cor
ner of the couch. While I was wondering at this
parade, the two first eunuchs retired and soon re
turned ; the one bearing an ewer or bason of wa
ter, the other a low marble stand and some nap
kins in a China dish. I was then directe d to
wash my feet ; and another bason being produced,
it was signified that I must wash my hands, which
I did three times. A large thick muslin veil was
then thrown over my head, I was led towards the
couch, and was presented with a pulse glass,
being a long glass tube graduated and ter
minated below with a hollow bulb, and filled
with some liquid, which rose and fell like spir
its in the thermometer. This instrument was
inserted through the curtains, and the bulb applied
to the pulse of my patient, and the other extrem
ity put under iny veil. By this I was to form
my opinion of her disorder and prescribe a re
medy ; for I was not allowed to ask any questions,
or even to speak to, much more see, the lady,
who was soon re-conveyed to her apartment. The
two first eunuchs now marched in the rear, and
closed and fastened the doors carefully after them.
After waiting alone two hours or more, I was
called to give my advice ; and never was I more
puzzled. To confess ignorance would have ruin~_
APHV4i. 159
ed my reputation, and reputation was then life
itself. The temptations to quackery were power
ful, and overcame me. I boldly pronounced her
disease to be an intermittent fever, prescribed
venesection, and exhibited some common febri
fuge, with directions to throw in the bark when
the fever ceased. My prescriptions were atten
ded with admirable success ; and, if I had con
formed to their faith, beyond a doubt I might
have acquired immense riches. But I was a
slave, and all my gains were the property of
my master. 1 must do him the justice to say
that he permitted me to keep any particular pres
ents that were made to me. Frequent applications
were made to the director for my advice and as
sistance to the diseased ; and though he received
generally my fee, yet it was sufficiently gratifying
to me to be pesmitted to walk abroad, to amuse
myself, and obtain, information of this extraordin
ary people, as much of which as the prescribed
limits of this little work will admit I shall now lay
Before my readers.
160 ALGERINE CAPTIVi,
CHAP. XLVIL
O er trackless seas, beneath the starless sk]
Or when thick clouds obscure the lamp of da) ,
The seaman, by the faithful needle led,
Dauntless pursues his devious clestin d course ,
Thus, en the boundless waste of ancient time,
Still let the faithful pen unering point
The polar truth.
AUTHOR S Manuscript Poems*
ARGUMENT.
Sketch of the History of the Algerines.
MUCH antiquarian lore might here be displayed,
in determining whether the state of Algiers was
part of the ancient Mauritinia Massilia, or within
the boundaries of the republic of Carthage ; and
pages of fruitless research might be wasted in pre
cisely ascertaining the era when that portion of the
sea-coast of, Africa, now generally known by the
name of the Barbary* Shore, was subdued by
the Romans, or conquered by the Vandals.
* Bruce an Englisrnan, who travelled to collect
fairy tales for the amusement of London cits, ob
serves that this territory was called Barbaria by
the Greeks and Romans, from beber^ signifying a
shepherd ; and even the accurate compiler of thr
American edition of Outline s Geography has quo
ted the observation in a marginal note. We cannot
expect that geographers should be philologists any
more than that every printer should be a Webster.
How the Greeks or Romans came by the word bebcr^
I leave Mr. Bruce to elucidate. The former ha
ALGE1UJNE CAPTIVE. 161
The history of nations, like the biography of
man, assumes an interesting importance only when
Us subject is matured into vigour. To trace the
infancy of the old world, we run into childish
prattle and boyish tales. Suffice it then to say,
that the mixed multitudes which inhabited[this coun
try were reduced to the subjection of the Greek
emperors by the arms of the celebrated Belisarius,
and so continued until the close of the seventh
century, when they were subdued by the invinci
ble power, and converted to the creed of the an
cient caliphs, the immediate successors of the pro
phet Mahomet, who parcelled the country into
many subordinate governments. One of these
states is Algiers ; which is bounded on the north
by the Mediterranean ; on the south by mount
Atlas so familiar to the classic reader and the
chain of hills which extends thence to the north
east ; on (he west by the kingdom of Morocco*;
and on the east by the state of Tunis. The state
of Algiers is about five hundred miles in length
the term burbaros, a barbarian, which they indis
criminately applied to all foreigners ; and, when
Greek literature became fashionable in Roman
schools, the latter adopted the term, and barbarus
was applied by the Romans with the same fop-
ish contempt.
* The common geography compilers add the
kingdom of Tefilet ; 1 conjecture, upon the authori
ty of Dr. Shaw ; though 1 could never hear of any
such kingdom in Africa. The face of many a coun
try \vhic.h that learned writer describes differs as
nHicb IVorri tire truth as lib own physiognomy from
ic of beauty,
14*
16li ALCERTNE CAPTIVE.
upon the coast of the Mediterranean, and from fii-
ty to one hundred and twenty miles in breadth^
and boasts about as large an extent of territory as
is contained in all the United States proper, which
lie to the north of Pennsylvania, including Ihr
same.
It was nine hundred years after its conquest bv
the caliphs, and at the beginning of the tenth cen
tury, that the Algerines, by becoming formidable
to the Europeans, acquired the notice of the en-
lightened historian. About this time, two enter
prising young men, sons of a potter of the island
of 3Iytelene, the ancient Lesbos, called Horric
and Hayraddin, collecting a number of despera
does, seized upon a brigantine and commenced
pirates, making indiscriminate depredations upon
the vessels of all nations. They soon augmented
their force to a fleet of twelve galleys, besides
small craft, with which they infested the sea-coast
of Spain and Italy, and carried their booty into
the ports 6f Barbary, styling themselves the
lords of the sea, and the enemies of all those who
sailed upon it. European nations were not then
possessed of such established and formidable na
vies as at the present day : even the English,
who seem formed for the command of the sea, had
but few ships of force. Henry the Eighth built
some vessels, which, from their unmanageable bulk,
were rather suited for home defence than foreign
enterprize ; and the fleet of Elizabeth, which, in
1588, destroyed the Spanish armada, was princi
pally formed of ships chartered by the merchant-,
who were the general resource of all the maritime
CAPTIVE. 163
powers. The fleet of these adventurers was there
fore formidable ; and, as Robertson says, soon be
came terrible from the Straits of the Dardanelles
*o those of Gibraltar. The prospects of ambition
increase as man ascends its summit. Horric,
the elder brother, surnamed Barbarossa,, as some
assert, from the red colour of his beard, aspired
to the attainment of sovereign power upon land ;
and a favourable opportunity soon offered of grati
fying his pride. His frequent intercourse with
;be Barbary states induced an acquaintance with
Kutimi, then king of Algiers, who was at war
with Spain, and had made several unsuccessful at-
Jacks upon a small fort built by that nation on the
Oran, in his distress, this king inconsiderately ap
plied to Barbarossa for assistance, who readily
embraced the invitation, and conducted himself
like more modern allies. He first assisted this
tveak king against his enemy, and then sacrificed
Jiim to his own ambition ; for, leaving his brother
liayraddin to command the fleet, he entered the
city of Algiers at the head of five thousand men,
was received by the inhabitants as their deliverer,
assisted them against the Spaniards, and then ar
rested and disarmed the principle people, secretly
murdered the unsuspecting Eutimi, and caused
himself to be proclaimed king of Algiers. Lavish
oi his treasures to his adherants, and cruelly vin
dictive to those he distrusted, he not only estab
lished his government, but dethroned the neighbour
ing king of Temecien, and annexed his dominions
io his own. But the brave marquis de Comere?,
Ike Spauiab governor .of Gran, by the direction of
104 ALGEHINE CAPTIVE.
the emperor Charles the Fifth, assisted the dethro
ned king ; and, after defeating Barbarossa in sev
eral bloody battles, besieged him in Tamecien,
the capitol of that kingdom, where this ferocious
adventurer was slain in attempting his escape, but
fought his pursuers with a brutal rage becoming
the ferocity of his life. Upon the death of Bar-
barossa, his brother Hayraddin assumed the same
name and the kingdom of Algiers. This Barba-
rossa, is better known to the European annalist
for rendering his dominions tributary to the grand
seignior* He enlarged his power with a body of the
Turkish soldiers ; and, being promoted to the
command of the Turkish fleet, he spread the fame
of the Ottoman power through all Europe : for,
though obliged by the superior power of the em
peror Charles the Fifth to relinquish his conquest
of Tunis, which he had effected by a similar
treachery with which his brother had posessed
himself of Algiers, yet his being the acknowledg
ed rival of Andrew Doria, the first sea command
er of his age, has laurelled his brow among those
who esteem glory to consist in carnage. This
Barbarossa built a mole for the protection of the
harbour of Algiers, in which, it is said, he em
ployed thirty thousand Christian slaves :. he died
a natural death, and was succeeded by Hassan
Aga, a renegado from Sirdinia, elected by the sol-
dies, but confirmed by the grand seignior ; who,
taking advantage of a violent storm which wreck
ed the navy of the emperor Charles the Fifth, wh<
had invaded his territories, drove that proud em-"
peror from the coast, defeated the rr^r of \\\.* ?.r
A.L<iUINL CAPTIVE. 16J
i.uy, and captured so many of his soldiers, that the
Algerines, it is reported, sold many of their pris
oners, by way of contempt, at the price of an on
ion per head. Another Hassan, son to the se
cond Barbarossa, succeeded, and defeated the
Spaniards, who invaded his dominions under the
command of the count de Alcandara, killed that
nobleman, and took about twelve thousand prison
ers. But his successor Mahomet merited most the
thanks of his conntry, when, by ingratiating him
self with the Turkish soldiers, and by incorpora
ting them with his own troops, he annihilated the
contests of these fierce rivals, formed a permanent
body of brave disciplined troops, and enabled his
successor to renounce that dependence upon the
grand seignior, to which the second Barbarossa,
fcad submitted.
In 1609, the^Algerines received a vast accession
of strength and numbers from the emigrant Moors,
\vhom the weak policy of Spain had driven to
their dominions. Embittered by Christian severi
ty, the Moors flocked on board the Algerine vessels,
and sought a desperate revenge upon all who bore
the Christian name. Their fleet was said to con
sist at this period of upwards of forty ships, from
two to four hundred tons burthen. Though the
French, with that gallantry which distinguished
them under their monarchs, undertook to avenge
the cause of Europe and Christianity ; and, in
3617, sent a fleet of fifty ships of war against
:hem, who sunk the Algerine admiral and disper
sed his fleet ; yet this bold people were so elated
! >y their accession of numbers and riches, that they
166 ALtiERINE CAPTIV&.
committed wanton and indiscriminate outrage. ou
the person and property of all nations, violating
the treaties made by the grand seignior, seizing the
ships of those powers with which he was in alli
ance, even in his own ports ; and, after plundering
Scandaroon in Syria, an Ottoman city, they, in
1623, threw off their dependence on the Sublime
Porte. In 1637, the Algerine rovers entered
the British channel, and made so many captures
that it was conjectured near five thousand English
were made prisoners by them ; and, in the same
year, they dispatched Hali Pinchinin with sixteen
galleys to rob the rich chapel of Our Lady of
Loretto ; which proving unsuccessful, they ravaged
the scores of the Adriatic, and so enraged the Ven
etians, that they fitted out a fleet of twenty-eight
sail under the command of admiral Cappello, who,
by a late treaty with the Porte, had liberty to en
ter any of its harbours to destroy the Algerine gal
leys. Cappello was ordered by the Venetians to
sink, burn, and destroy, without . mercy, all the
corsairs of the enemy, and he bravely and sus-
cessfully executed his commisson. He immediate
ly overtook and defeated Pinchinin, disabled five
of his galleys ; and this Algerine retreating to
Valona and landing his booty, where he erected
batteries for its defence, the brave Cappello man
ned his boats and small craft, and captured his
wjiole fleet. In these actions about twelve hun
dred Algerines were slain ; and what was more*
pleasing, sixteen hundred Christian gaily-slave:^
set at liberty. History affords no instance of a
people so repeatedly and suddenly recovering tht>5r
ALGER1KE CAVTIVE-. 167
Josses as the Algerines. Within a few years we
&nd them fitting out seventy sail of armed vessels,
and making such daring and desperate attacks up
on the commerce of nations, that the most haughty
maritime powers of Europe were more anxious to
shelter themselves under a treaty, and pay an hu
miliating tribute, than to attempt nobly to reduce
them to reason and humanity. But, after many
ineffectual attempts bad deen made to uniler the
force of Europe against them, the gallant French
by the command of Lewis the Fourteenth, again
roused themselves to chastise this intractable race.
In 1682, the marquis du Quesne with a large fleet
and several bomb-ketches, reached Algiers ; and
with sea-mortars bombarded it so violently, that
he laid almost the whole city in ruins. Whether
his orders went no further, or the vice-admiral
judged he had chastised them sufficiently, or wheth
er a violent storm drove his fleet from its moorings,
does not appear. But it is certain that he left the
c\iy abruptly, and the Algerines-, to revenge this
insult, immediately sent their fleet to the coast ot
France, and took signal reparation.
The next year du Quesne cast anchor before Al
giers with a large fleet ; and for forty-eight hours
made such deadly discharges with his cannon, and
showered so many bombs over this devoted city,
that the dey sued for peace.
The French admiral, with that generosity which
is peculiar to his nation, insisted, as an indispen
sable preliminary, that all the Christian slaves
should be sent on board his squadron, with Mez-
emorto, the dey s admiral, as a hostage for the
168 ALGERIXE CAPTIVE.
performance of this preliminary article. The dej
assembled his divan, or council of great officers,
and communicated the French demands. Mez*
emorto immediately collected the sailors who had
manned the ramparts, and with whom he was a
favourite ; and, accusing the dey of cowardice, he
so inflamed them, that, being joined by the sol
diers, they murdered the dey, and elected Mez-
emorto in his stead. This was a signal for re
newed hostility, and never was there a scene of
greater carnage. The French seemed to have
reserved their fire for this moment, when thej
poured such incessant volleys of red-hot shot, bombs,
and carcasses, into the city, that it was nearly all
in flames. The streets run blood, while the
politic and furious Mezemorto, dreading a change
in the public mind, and conscious that another
cessation of arms would be attended with his
death or delivery to the French, ran furiously
round the ramparts, and exhorted the military to
their duty, and to make his new subjects despe
rate caused all the French slaves to be murdered ;
and seizing the French consul, who had been
a prisoner among them since the first declaration
of war, he ordered him to be tied hand and foot,
-*nd placed over a bomb mortar, and shot into
the air towards the French fleet. The French were
s.o highly enraged that the sailors could scarcely
be prevented from attempting to land and des
troy this barbarous race. The vice-admiral con
tented himself with levelling their fortifications,
reducing the city to rubbish, and burning their
*vhole fleet, A fair opportunity now presented c-C
ALGERKS E CAPTITO* 169
preveriting the Algerines from again molesting
commerce. If the European maritime powers
had by treaty engaged themselves to destroy the
first armed galley of the Algerines which appear
ed upon the seas, and conjointly forbidden them
to repair their fortifications, this people might ere
now have from necessity turned their attention to
commerce ; the miscreants and outcasts of other
nations would have no longer found refuge among
them ; and the state at this time might have been
as celebrated for the peaceful arts as they are. odi
ous for the constant violation of the laws of nations
and humanity. This was surely the common inter
est of the European powers ; but to talk of their
common interest is idle. The narrow politics of
Europe seek an individual not a common good ; for
no sooner had France humbled the Algerines than
England thought it more for her interest to enter
into a treaty with the new dey, and, by way oi
douceur, sent to Algiers a ship load of naval and
military stores, to help them to rebuild their navy
and strengthen their fortresses ; while France,
jealous lest the affections of the monster Mezemor
to, who barbarously murdered their fellow-citizens,
should be attached to her rivals the English, im
mediately patched up a peace with the Algerines
upon the most favourable terms to the latter ; and
to conclude the farce, sent them another ship Ioav4
of similar materials and of superior value to those
presented by the English. This, my readers, i*
a small specimen of European policy.
The latest authentic account of any attack up
on the Algerines was, cm thu 23x1 of June, 1775. ;
170 ALGERIKE CAl TiVE.
when the Spaniards sent the count O Reilly with
a respectable fleet, twenty-four thousand land for
ces, and a prodigious train of artillery, to destroy
the city. The count landed two-thirds of his
troops about a league and a half to the eastward
of the city ; but upon marching into the country
they were opposed by an immense army of na
tives. The Spaniards say it consisted of one hun
dred and fifty thousand probably exaggerated by
their apprehensions. This is certain, they had
force sufficient or superior skill, to defeat the Span
iards, who retreated to their ships with the loss of
thirteen cannon, some howitzers, and three thou
sand killed, besides prisoners ; while they des
troyed six thousand Algerines. No sooner had
the treaty of Paris, in 1782, completely liberated
the United States from their dependence upon the
British nation, than that haughty exasperated pow
er, anxious to show its late colonists the value of
that protection under which their vessels had here
tofore navigated the Mediterranean, excited the
Algerines. to capture the shipping of the United
States, who, following from necessity the policy
of European nations, concluded a treaty with this
piratical state on the 5th of September, 1795.
Thus 1 have delineated a sketch of Algerine his
tory, from actual imformation obtained upon the
^pot, and the best European authorities. This dry
Detail of facts will probably be passed over by
those who read for mere amusement, but the intel
ligent reader will in this concise memoir trace the
principles of this despotic government ;
. unt for the avarice and rapacity of a pee-
ALGERINE CAPTIVE. 171
pie who live by plunder; perceive whence it is
that they are thus suffered to injure commerce and
outrage humanity ; and justify our executive gov*
ernment in concluding what some uninformed men
may esteem a humiliating and too dearly purchas*
ed peace with these freebooters.
CHAP. XLVI1L
Not such as erst illumin d ancient Greece
Cities for arts and arms and freedom fam cU-
The den of d2spots and the wretch s grave.
AUTHOR S Manuscript Poems.
ARGUMENT.
Description of the City of Algiers.
I CANNOT give so particular a description of this
city as I could wish or my readers may desire..
Perhaps no town contains so many places imper
vious to strangers. The interior of the dey s pal
ace, and the female apartment of every house,
are secluded even from the natives. No one ap
proaches them but their respective masters ; while
no stranger is permitted to inspect the fortifica
tions ; and the mosques, or churches, are scrupu
lously guarded from the polluted steps of the un
believer. A poor slave, branded as an infidel,
would obtain only general information from a ro
sidence in the midst of them.
172 ALGERINE CAPTIVE.
Algiers is situated in a bay of that name, and
built upon the sea-shore, and on an eminence which
rises above it, and which naturally gives the dis
tinction of the upper and lower city. Towards
the sea it is strengthened with vast fortifications,
which are continued upon the mole which secures
the port from storms and assaults. I never per
ambulated it, but should judge that a line drawn
irom the west arm of the mole, and extended by
land until it terminated on the east, comprehend
ing the buildings, would measure about two miles.
It contains one hundred and twenty mosques, two
hundred and twenty public baths, and innumera
ble coffee-houses. The mosques are large stone
buildings, not lofty in proportion to their extent on
the ground, and have usually erected upon their
corners small square towers, or minarets, whence
the inferior priests call the people to prayers.
The baths are convenient buildings, lighted on
the top, provided with cold and warm water,
which you mingle at your pleasure, in small mar
ble cisterns, by the assistance of brass cocks. Ev
ery bather pays two rials at his entrance, for which
he is accommodated with a dressing-room contig
uous to the bathing cistern, towels, flesh-brushes,
and other conveniences, a glass of sherbet, and an
assistant if he chooses. The coffee-houses or
rooms are generally piazzas, with an awning over
them, projecting, from the front of the houses in
to the streets. Here the inhabitants delight to
loll, to drink sherbet, sip coffee, and chew opium,
r smoak tobacco steeped in a decoction of this*
exhilarating drug.
ALGEftlSE CAPTIVE. 173
I have already sketched a description of the
houses,and shall only add, that the roofs are nearly
flat, with a small declivity to cast the rain-water into
spouts. Algiers is tolerably well supplied with
spring- water, conveyed in pipes from the back
country ; but the Algerines, who are immoderate
ly attached to bathing, prefer rain-water as best
adapted to that use, considering it a luxury in com
parison with that obtained from the springs or sea*
The inhabitants say Algiers contains twenty
thousand houses, one hundred and forty thousand
believers, twenty-two thousand Jews, and six
thousand Christian slaves. I suspect that Alger-
ine vanity has exaggerated the truth ; but I can
not contradict it. Immediately before the census
of the inhabitants of the United States, I am told
persons who possessed much better means of cal
culation mis-ratell the population of the principal
towns most egregiously.
CHAP. XLIX.
See the deep curse of power uncoHtroFd.
ARGUMENT.
The Government of the Jllgerines.
IT has been noticed that Hayraddin Barbarossa,
in the beginning of the sixteenth century, render
ed his kingdom tributary to the grand seigniory
15*
174 ALGERINE CAPTIVE.
and that in the year 1623, the Algerines threw off
their dependence on the Sublime Porte. Since
that time the Turkish court have made several at
tempts to reduce the Algerines to their subjection ;
and, by siding with the numerous pretenders to
the regency, so common in this unstable govern
ment, they have at times apparently effected their
design : while the Algerines, by assassinating or
dethroning those princes whose weakness or wants
have induced them to submit to extraneous power,
have reduced their dependence on the Sublime
Porte to a mere name. At present the grand seign
ior, fearful of loosing the very shadow of author
ity he has over them, contents himself with re
ceiving a tribute almost nominal ; consisting chief-
Jy of a present towards defraying the expenses of
the annual canopy, which is sent to adorn the
prophet s tomb at Medina : while, on the other
hand, the Algerines, dreading the grand seignior s
interference in their popular commotions, allow
the Sublime Porte to confirm the election of their
dey, and to badge his name, by affixing and ter
minating it with those of the principal officers of
the Turkish government. Hence the present dey,
whose real name is Hassan, is styled Vizier, which
is also the appellation of the grand seignior s first
minister. As bashaw, which terminates the dey s
name, is the Turkish title of their viceroys and
principal commanders, he makes war or peace,
negotiates treaties, coins money, and performs ev
ery other act of absolute independence.
Nor is the dey less independent of his own
subjects. Though he obtains his office frequently
ALGERINE CAPTIVE. 17j
by the election of a furious soldiery, and wades
to the regency through the blood of his predeces
sor, yet he is no sooner invested with the insig
nia of office, than an implicit reverence is paid to
his commands, even by his ferocious electors ; and
though he often summons his divan, or council of
great officers, yet they are merely advisory. He
conducts foreign affairs at his own good pleasure ;
and as to internal he knows no restraint, except
from certain local customs, opinions, and tenets,
which he himself venerates in common with his
meanest subjects. Justice is administered in his
name. He even determines controversies in his
own person, besides being supposed virtually
present in the persons of his cadis or judges. If
he inclines to interfere in the determination of a
suit, upon his approach the authority of the cadis
ceases, and is merged in that of the dey. Some
customs have been intimated, which restrain the
dey s despotism. These relate principally to re
ligion, property, and females. He will not con
demn a priest to death ; and, although upon the
decease of a subject his landed property immedi
ately escheats to the reigning dey, yet he never
seizes it in the life of the possessor; and when a
man is executed for the highest crime, the females
of his family are treated with respect : nay, even
in an insurrection of the soldiery, when they mur
dered their dey, neither they nor his successor vi
olated the female apartments of the slain. A mere
love of novelty in the soldiery, the wish to share
the largesses of a new sovereign, the policy of
his courtiers, the ambition or popularity of his
ALGERINE CAPTIVE,
officers or children, have not unfrequently caused
the dethroning of the dey 5 but the more system
atic cause of his being so frequently dethroned
shall be noticed in our next chapter.
CHAP. L.
May these add to the number that may scald thee i
Let molten coin be thy damnation !
SHAKSPEARE.
ARGUMENT.
Revenue.
THE dey s revenue is stated by writers at seven
hundred thousand dollars per annum. If the lim
its of this work would permit, I think I could prove
it under-rated from a view of his expenditures.
It arises from a slight tax upon his subjects, a tri
bute from some Moors and tribes of Arabs in the in
terior country, a capitation tax upon the Jews,
prizes taken at sea, presents from foreign powers
as the price of peace, annual subsidies from those
nations with whom he is in alliance, and custom
ary presents made by his courtiers on his birth
day. To these may be added sums squeezed from
his bashaws in the government of the interior pro
vinces, and from the Jews as the price of his
protection. With these supplies he has to sup
port the magnificence of his court, defray the ex-
^ensc of foreign embassies, pay his army, supply
ALUERINE CAPTIVE. 177
his navy, and repair his fortifications ; and by fre
quent gratuities, if he is not very successful and
popular, support his interest among those who have
the power to dethrone him. His proportion of
the prizes captured at sea, and the conciliatory
presents made by the commercial powers, are the
principal sources of his revenue. It is obviously
the policy of the dcy, by frequently infringing hk
treaties, to augment his finances by new capture?,
or fresh premiums for his friendship. A pacific
dey is sure not to reign long ; for, besides the dis
gust of the formidable body of sailors who are
emulous of employ, when the reigning dey has
once gone through the routine of seizing the ves
sels, receiving the presents, and concluding trea
ties with the usual foreign powers, he finds that
the annual payments secured by treaties are insuf
ficient for the maintenance of his necessary ^ex
penditures, and is therefore constrained frequently
to declare war as a principle of self-preservation.
I have been told the present dey condescended to
oxplak these principles to an American agent it?
Algiers, and grounded his capturing the American
shipping upon this necessity. I must, said the
dey, be at war with some nation, and yours must
have its turn. When the dey, from a pacific dis
position, or dread of foreign power, is at peace
with the world, the disgusted sailor and avaricious
soldier join to dethrone Mm having established
it as a maxim that all treaties expire with the
reigning dey, and must be renewed with his suc
cessor. This is undoubtedly the true source whence
spring those frequent and dreadful Convulsions In
the regency of -Algiers.
178 ALGERINE CAPTIVE.
CHAP. LI.
All arrn d in proof, the fierce banditti join
In horrid phalanx, urg d by hellish rage,
To glut their vengeance in the blood of those
That worship Him who shed his blood for all.
AUTHOR S Manuscript Poems.
ARGUMENT.
The Ley s Forces.
THERE are but few vessels actually belonging to
the dey s navy. He has many marine officers
who rank in the sea service ; but, except on great
expeditions, they are permitted to command the
galleys of private adventurers ; and it is these
picaroons that make such dreadful depredations on
commerce. I can give but a slender account of
his land forces. Those in established pay are
said to amount to eight thousand foot, and two thou
sand Moorish horse. To these may be added four
thousand inhabitants of the city, who enroll them
selves as soldiers for protection in military tumults,
receive no pay, but are liable to be called upon to
man the fortifications in emergency, insurrection,
or invasion. Perhaps there are more of this spe
cies in the provinces. The horse are cantoned in
the country round the city, and do duty by de
tachments at the palace. Three thousand foot are
stationed in the fortifications, and marshalled as the
dey s guards. The residue of the land forces are
distributed among the bashaws, to overawe the
AL.GERINE CAPTIVE. 179
provinces. But the principal reliance, in case of
invasion, is the vast bodies of what may be styled
militia, which the bashaws in case of emergency
lead from the interior country.
CHAP. LIL
Quaint Fashion too was there,
Whose caprice trims
The Indian s wampum
And the crowns of kings.
AUTHOR S Manuscript Poems-
ARGUMENT.
Notices of the Habits, Customs, fyc. of the Alg&-
rines.
THE men wear next to their bodies a linen shirt,
or rather chemise, and drawers of the same tex
ture. Over their shirt a linen or silk gown, which
is girded about their loins by a sash, in the choice
of which they exhibit much fancy. In this dress
their legs and lower extremity of their arms are
bare. As an outer garment, a loose coat of coars
er materials is thrown over the whole. They
wear turbans, which are long pieces of muslin or
silk curiously folded, so as to form a cap comfort
able and ornamental. Slippers are usually worn,
though the soldiers are provided with a sort of
buskin, resembling our half-boots. The dress of
t!je women, I am told- for I never had the pleas
180 ALGERINE CAPTIVE.
ure of inspecting it very critically resembles
that of the men, except that their drawers are
longer, and their outside garment is like our
old-fashioned ridinghoods. When the ladies walk
the streets, they are muffled with bandages or hand
kerchiefs of muslin or silk over their faces, which
conceal all but their eyes ; and if too nearly in
spected, will let fall a large veil which conceals
them entirely. The men usually sit cross-legged
upon mattresses laid upon low seats at the sides
of the room. They loll on cushions at their
meals, and after their repasts occasionally indulge
with a short slumber. I have such a laudable
attachment to the customs of my own country, that
I doubt whether I can judge candidly of their
cookery or mode of eating. The former would be
unpalatable, and the latter disgusting, to most
Americans ; for saffron is their common season
ing. They cook their provisions to rags or pap,
and eat it with their fingers; though the bettet
sort use spoons. Their diversions consist in as
sociating in the coffee-houses in the city, and in the
country under groves, where they smoke and chat,
and drink cooling, not inebriating, liquors. Their
more active amusements are riding and throwing the
dart, at both which they are very expert. They
sometimes play at chess and draughts, but never
at games of chance or for money, those being ex
pressly forbidden by the Alcoran.
ALGERINE CAPTIVE.
CHAP. LIII.
Prsetulerim scriptor delirus inersque viberi,
Dum mea cieleciant mala me vel denique lallani.
HOP., K;,:
Done into English J\Ittn.
Pd rather \vield as dull a pen
As rhhf.y B or bundling Ben ;
Tedious as doctor P nee, cr rather
As Samuel Increase, Co:t< :> M r ,
And keep of tru.h the beaten track,
Airi plod trie r ld cart-rut cf fact,
Tha 1 . , rind \ .;; n
As cit Geret cr Tommy Paine.
ARGUMENT.
Marriages a,
IT is the privilege of travellers *-.te ^
but I wish not to avail my s.-rcriptive
I had rather disappoint the cur, 5 ;y of
my readers by conciseness. them
I have no ambition to be ranked
anioru* the Bruces and Chasttlreux of the age. I
i M ve the
understanding of my reader with what I r
know, thsn iir/js-e him with stories of which my
circumscribed situation rendered me necessarilj
ignorant. 1 never was at an Algerine mar-
but obtained some authentic ion OB tbe
182 ALG BRINE- CAPTIVE.
That extreme caution which separates the seres
jn elder life, is also attached to the youth. In
Algiers the young people never collect to dance,
converse, or amuse themselves with the innocent
gaieties of their age. Here are no theatres, balls,
or concerts ; and even in the public duties of
religion the sexes never assemble together. An
Algerine courtship would be as disagreeable to
the hale youth of New England, as a common
bundling would be disgusting to the Mussulman.
No opportunity is afforded to the young suitor to
search for those nameless bewitching qualities and
attentions which attach the American youth to his
mistress, and form the basis of connubial bliss ;
nor is the young Algerine permitted, by a thou
sand tender assiduities, to win the affections of
the future partner of his life. His choice can be
only directed by the rank or respectability of the
father of his intended bride. He never sees her
face until after the nuptial ceremony is performed,
and even some days after she has been brought
home to his own house. The old people fre
quently make the match, or, if it originates with
the youth, he confides his wishes to his father or
some respectable relation, who communicates the
proposal to the lady s father. If he receives it
favourably, the young couple are allowed to ex
change some unmeaning messages, by an old nurse
of the family. The bride s father or her next
male kin with the bridegroom go before the cadi,
and sign a contract of marriage, which is attested
by the relatives on each side. The bridegroom
*!ien pays a stipulated sum to the bride s father ;
ALGERINE CAPTIVE. 183
the nuptial ceremony is performed in private, and
the bridegroom retires. After some days the
bride is richly arrayed, accompanied by females,
and conveyed in a covered coach or waggon, gau
dy with flowers, to her husband s house. Here
she is immediately immured in the women s ap
artments, while the bridegroom and his friends
share a convivial feast. After some ceremonies,
the nature of which I could not discover, the bride
groom enters the women s apartment, and for
the first time discovers whether his wife has a
nose or eyes. Among the higher ranks, it is said>
the bride, after the expiration of a month, goes
to the public bath for women, is there received
-with great parade, and loaded with presents by
Jaer female relations, assembled on the occasion.
The bridegroom also receives presents from hic-
friends.
Within a limited time the husband may break
the contract, provided he will add another item
to that already given, return his bride with all
her paraphernalia, and, putting the holy Alcoran
to his breast, assert that he never benefited him
self of the rights of a husband.
Notwithstanding the apparent restraint the wo
men are under, they are said to be attached to
their husbands, and enjoy greater liberty than is
generally conceived. I certainly saw many wo
men in the streets so muffled up, and their out
ward garments so much alike, that their nearest
.relatives could not distinguish one from another,
The vulgar slaves conjecture that the women take
great liberties in this general disguise.
184 ALGERINE CAPTIVE.
Their funerals are decent, but not ostentatious^,
I saw many. The corpse, carried up on a bier, is
preceded by the priests chanting passages from
the Alcoran in a dolorous tone. Wherever the
procession passes the people join in this dirge.
The relatives follow with the folds of their tur
bans loosened. The bodies of the rich are de
posited in vaults, those of the poor in graves. A
pillar of marble is erected over them, with an un
blown rose carved on the top for the unmarried.
At certain seasons the women of the family
join a procession in close habits, and proceed to
the tomb or grave, and adorn it with garlands
of flowers. When these processions pass, the
slaves are obliged to throw themselves on the
ground with their faces in the dust, and all, of
whatever rank, cover their faces.
CHAP. LIV.
prone to grovelling error, thus to quit
The firm foundations of a Saviour s love,
And build on stubble !
AUTHOR S Manuscript P
ARGUMENT.
The Religion of the Algerines Life of the Pro*
phet Mahomet,
IN describing the religious tenets of the Algerines,
the attentiorj is immediately drawn to Mahomet, of
Mahomed ; the founder of their faith.
ALGERINE CAPTIVE. 185
This fortunate impostor, like all other great
characters in the drama of life, has been indig
nantly vilified by his opponents, and as ardently
praised by his adherents. 1 shall endeavour to
steer the middle course of impartiality ; neither
influenced by the bigoted aversion of Sales and
Prideaux, or the specious praise of the philosophic
Boulavnilliers.
Mahomet was born in the 568ih year of the
Christian sera. He was descended from the Core-
is, one of tjie noblest of the Arabian tribes. His
father Abdalla was a man of moderate fortune,
and bestowed upon his son such an education as a
parent in confined, if not in impoverished, circum
stances could confer. The Turks say he could
not write, because they pride themselves in de
crying letters ,japd because the pious among them
suppose his ignorance of letters a sufficient evi
dence of the dr ine original of the book he pub
lished, as received from and written by the finger
of Deity.
But when the Arabian authors record that he
was employed as a factor by his uncle Abutileb,
there can little doubt remain but that he was pos
sessed of all the literary acquirements necessary
to accomplish him for his business. He has been
stigmatized as a mere camel-driver. He had the
direction of camels it is true. The merchandize
of Arabia was transported to different regions by
caravans of those useful animals, of a troop of
which he was conductor ; but there was as much
difference between his station and employment,
and that of a common camel-driver, as between
16*
186 ALGERINE CAPTIVE.
the supercargo of an India ship in our days, and
the seaman before the mast. In his capacity of
factor, he travelled into Syria, Palestine, and
Egypt ; and acquired the most useful knowledge
in each country. He is represented as a man of
a beautiful person and commanding presence.
By his engaging manners and remarkable atten
tion to business, he became the factor of a rich
Arabian merchant, after whose death he married
his widow, the beautiful Cadijah, and came into
the lawful possession of immense wealth, which
awakened in him the most unbounded ambition.
By the venerable custom of his nation, his polit
ical career was confined to his own tribe ; and
the patriarchal being the prominent feature of the
Arabian government, he could not hope to sur
mount the claims of elder families, even in his
own tribe, the genealogies of which were accu
rately preserved. To be the founder and proph
et of a new religion would secure a glorious pre
eminence, highly gratifying to his ambition, and
not thwarting the pretensions of the tribes.
Mankind are apt to impute the most profound
abilities to founders of religious systems, and oth
er successful adventurers, when perhaps they owe
their success more to a fortunate coincidence of
circumstances, and their only merit is the sagaci
ty to avail themselves of that tide in the affairs
of men which leads to wealth and honour. Per
haps there never was a conjuncture more favour
able for the introduction of a new religion than
tfoat of which Mahomet availed himself. He was
grounded by Arian Christians, whose darling
ALGERINE CAPTIVE. IS 7
creed is the unity of the Deity, and who had
been persecuted by the Athenasians into an abhor
rence of almost every other Christian tenet : by
Jews, who had fled from the vindictive emperor
Adrian, and who too wilfully blind to see the ac
complishment of their prophecies in the person of
our Saviour, in the midst of exile were ready to
contemn those prophecies which had so long de
luded them with a Messiah who never came : and
by Pagans, whose belief in a plurality of gods
made them the ready proselytes of any novel sys
tem ; and the more wise of whom were disgusted
with the gross absurdities of their own mythology,
The system of Mahomet is said to have been
calculated to attach all these. To gratify the
Arian and the Jew, he maintained the unity of
God ; and, to please the Pagans, he adopted many
of their exterpral rites, as fastings, washings, &c.
Certain it is, he spoke of Moses and the patriarchs
as messengers from heaven, and that he declared
Jesus Christ to be the true Messias, and the exem
plary pattern of a good life a sentiment critical-
ly expressing the Arian opinion. The stories of
AM0mt sfle*ijfrgi retired to a cave with .a monk
and a Jew to compile 4 his book, and falling into
fits of the epilepsy, persuading his disciples that
these fits were trances, in order to propagate hi*
system more effectually, so ofteq. related by geog
raphy compilers, like the tales of Pope Joan and
the nagVhead consecration of the English bish
ops, are fit only to amuse the vulgar. It is cer
tain he secluded himself from company, and as
sumed an austerity of manners becoming the re-
188 ALGERINE CAPTIVE.
former of a vicious world. In his retirement he
commenced writing the Alcoran. His first prose
lytes were of his own family, the next of his near
relatives. But the tribe of Corei were so famil
iar with the person and life of Mahomet that they
despised his pretensions ; and fearful lest what
they styled his mad enthusiasm should bring a
stigma upon their tribe, they first attempted to
reason him out of his supposed delusion ; and this
failing they sought to destroy him. But a special
messenger of heaven, who, Mahomet says, meas
ured ten million furlongs at every step, informed
him of their design, and he fled to Medina, the
inhabitants of which city, being already prepos
sessed in favour of his doctrine, received him with
great respect.*
He soon inspired them with the most implicit
confidence in the divinity of his mission, and con
firmed their faith by daily portions of the Alcoran,
which he declared was written by the finger of
God. and transmitted to him immediately from
heaven by archangels, commissioned for that im
portant purpose. He declared himself the Sent
of God, the sword of his a] m^AMl^ ^PM^
sioned to enforce ttyeAmity^lrtbe div-ine essence,
the unchangoableness of his eternal decrees, the
toture bliss* or .true believers, and the torment of
tmdamned amoW the nations. He boldly pro-
toture bliss* plF .true
tmdamncd amoW
C\ 1%
* This flight was in the 6g2d year of the Chris
tian rcra, when Mahomet was fifty-four years of age.
The Mahometans of all sectaries commence their
computation of time from this period, which they
Style the hegira* or flight,
ALGERINE CAPTIV/E. 189
uounced all those who died fighting in his cause to
be entitled to the glory of martyrs in the heaven
ly paradise ; and, availing himself of some of
the ancient feuds among the neighbouring tribes,
caused his disciples in Medina to wage war upon
their neighbours, whom they invariably conquer
ed when he headed their troops. The tribe of
Corei, flattered by the honours paid their kinsman,
and confounded by the repeated reports of his
victories, were soon proselyted, and became after
wards the most enthusiastic supporters of his pow
er. In 627 he was crowned sovereign at Medina,
like the divine Melchisedec uniting in his person
the high titles of prophet and king. He subdued
the greater part of Arabia, and obtained a respect
able footing in Syria. He died at Medina in the
year 633, and in the sixty-fourth year of his age.
European writers, who have destroyed almost as
many great personages by poison as the French
have with the guillotine, have attributed his death
to a dose administered by a monk. But when we
consider his advanced age and public energies, we
need not recur to any but natural means tor tb.
cause his death.
190 ALGERINE CAPTIVE.
CHAP. LV.
See childish man, neglecting reason s law,
Contend for trifles, differ for a straw.
AUTHOR S Manuscript Poems.
ARGUMENT.
The Sects of Omar and M.
UPON the decease of the prophet his followers
were almost confounded. They could scarcely
credit their senses. They fancied him only in a
swoon, and waited in respectful silence until he
should again rise to lead them to conquest and
glory. His more confidential friends gathered
around the corpse ; and, being impressed with
the policy of immediately announcing his succes
sor, they held a fierce debate upon the subject.
In the Alcoran they found no direction for the
election, nor any successor to the caliphate point
ed out. They .agreed to send for his wives and
confidential domestics. The youngest of his
wives produced some writings, containing the pre
cious sayings of the prophet, which, she said she
had collected ^felier own edification. To these
were aftenvai^ls added stfeh observations of the
prophet as life H*ore intimate associates could re
collect, or the pdify of ihose in power invent.
These were annexed to th% ^cofan, and esteem-
of equal authority. This compilation was
ed the Boolfcof the Compaoions of the Apos-
In tljg^ntings produced by his favourite
ALGERINE CAPTIVE. 191
wife, the prophet had directed his great officers to
^lect his successor from among them, and assured
them that a portion of his own power would rest
upon him. Abubeker, a friend and relative, and
successful leader of the forces of the prophet, by
the persuasions of those around, immediately en
tered the public mosque ; and, standing on the
steps of the desk from which the prophet used to
deliver his oracles, he informed the multitude that
God had indeed called the prophet to paradise,
and that his kingly authority and apostolic powers
res-ted upon him. To him succeeded Omar and
Osman : while the troops in Syria, conceiving
that Ali their leader was better entitled to suc
ceed than either, elevated him also to the caliph
ate, though he refused the dignity until he was
called by the voice of the people to succeed Os
man. Hence sprang that great schism which has
divided the Mussulman world ; but though divi
ded as to the successor of the prophet, both par
ties were actuated by his principles and adhered
jo his creed. Omar and his successors turned
iheir arms towards Europe ; and, under the name
of Saracens or Moors, possessed themselves of the
greater part of Spain and the Mediterranean isles ;
while the friends of Ali, establishing themselve*
as sovereigns, made equal ravages upon Persia,/"
and even to the great peninsula of India.
The Algerines are of the sect of Omar, which .
like mauy other religious schisms, differs niore iu
name than in any fundamental point of creed or
practice from that of Ali. The propriety of Ihe
ranslation of the Alcoran into the Persian Jan-
192 ALGERINE CAPTIVE.
guage, and the succession of the caliphate, seen!
the great standards of their respective creeds.
CHAP. LVL
Father of all ! in ev ry age,
In ev ry clime ador d,
By saint, by savage, and by sage,
Jehovah, Jove, or Lord !
POPE,
ARGUMENT.
The Faith of the Jllgerines.
THE Algerine doctors assert that the language of
the Alcoran is so ineffably pure, it can never be
rendered into any other tongue. To this they can
didly impute the miserable vitiated translations of
the Christians, whom they charge with having
garbled the sacred book, and degraded its sublime
allegories and metaphors into absurd tales. This
is certain, the portions which 1 have heard chan
ted at funerals and quoted in conversation ever ex
hibited the pur^ morality and the sublimest con
ceptions of the Deity. The fundamental doctrine
of the Alcoran is the unity of God. The evil spi
rit, says the Koran, is subtly deluding men into
the belief that there are more go^s than one, that in
the confusion of deities he may obtain a share of de
votion ; while the Supreme Being, pitying the de
lusions of man, has sent Abraham, Moses, Soliman,
ALGER1NE CAPTIVE. 193
breathed forth the Messias of the Christian in a
sigh of divine pity, and lastly sent Mahomet, the
seal of the prophets, to reclaim men to this essen
tial truth. The next fundamental points in the
Mussulman creed are a belief in the eternal de
crees of God, in a resurrection and final judgment
to bliss or misery. Some hold with Chiristians
that the future punishment will be infinite, while
others suppose that, when the souls of the wicked
are purified by fire, they will be received into the
favour of God. They adhere to many other points
of practical duty : such as daily prayers, frequent
ablutions, acts of charity, and severe fastings ; that
of Rhammadin is the principal, which is similar
to the catholic Lent in abstinence, for the penitent
abstains only from a particular kind of food, while
he gluts himself with others perhaps more luscious.
The Alcoran tilso forbids games of chance and
the use of strong liquors ; inculcates a tenderness
for idiots and a respect for age. The Book of the
Companions of the Apostle enjoins a pilgrimage
to his tomb, to be made by the true believers once
at least in their lives ; but, though they view the
authority which enjoined this tedious journey di
vine, yet they have contrived to evade its rigour
by allowing the believer to perform it by proxy or
attorney.
Upon the whole, there do not appear to be any
articles in their faith which incite them to immo
rality, or can countenance the cruelties they com-
mit. Neither their Alcoran nor their priests excite
them to plunder, enslave, or torment. The for*
jner expressly recommends charity, justice, and
17
194 ALGERINE CAPTIVE.
mercy, towards their fellow men. I would npl
bring the sacred volume of our faith in any com
parative view with the Alcoran of Mahomet ; but
1 cannot help noticing it as extraordinary, that the
Mahometan should abominate the Christian on ac
count of his faith, and the Christian detest the
Mussulman for his creed ; when the Koran of the
former acknowledges the divinity of the Christian
Messias, and the Bible of the latter commands us
to love our enemies. If either would follow tfce
obvious dictates of his own scripture, he would
cfease to hate, abominate, and destroy the other.
CHAP. LVII.
OHere; quse res
Nee modum habetneque consilium, ratione, modoque
I ractari non vult.
HOR. Sat. 3. Lib. &
ARGUMENT.
|
do not the powers in Europe suppress the Ai-
gerine Depredations ? is a Question frequent
ly asked in the United States.
I ANSWER that this must be effected by a union of
the European maritime powers with the grand
seignior ; by a combination among themselves , or
by an individual exertion of some particular state,
A union of the European powers with the grand
seifrnior most rrobablv would be atteDc ed with
ALGER1NE CAPTIVE. 19i>
success ; but this is not to be expected ; as it nev
er can be the interest of the Sublime Porte to
suppress them, and the common faith of the Mus
sulman has more influence in uniting its professors
than the creed of the Christian, to the disgrace of
the latter : and, as the grand seignior s dominion
over the Algerines is little more than nominal, he is
anxious to conciliate their favour by affording them
his protection ; considering prudently, that, though
intractable, they are still a branch of the Mussul
man stock. Provoked by their insults he has some
times withdrawn his protection, as was the case
when he, by treaty with the Venetians, permit
ted their fleet to enter the Ottoman ports, for the
express purpose of destroy ing the Algerine galleys ;
but it is obvious the Sublime Porte meant merely
to chastise not to ruin them.
In the grand,seignior s wars with the Europeans,
the piratical states have rendered signal services,
and he himself not unfrequently receives valua
ble douceurs for exerting his supposed influence
over them in favour of oneor another of the contend
ing powers of Europe. In the siege of Gibraltar
by the Spaniards, during the late American war,
that garrison received frequent supplies of provi
sions from the Barbary shore ; but, by the applica
tion of Lewis XVI. to the Sublime Porte, the grand
seignior influenced the Barbary states to prohibit
those supplies ; and the English consul was dis
missed from one of them with the most pointed
marks of contempt. While the grand seignior
reaps such solid advantages from them, it is absurd
o think of his co-operation against them :
196 ALGERINE CAPTIVE.
can a union with the European powers be more
fully anticipated. Jealousy as often actuates migh-
~ty nations as weak individuals. Whoever turns
over the pages of history attentively will there per
ceive that sordid passion is the impulse of action to
the greatest states. Commercial states are also ac
tuated by avarice a passion still more baneful in
, ; ts effects. These excite war, and are the grand
plenipotentiaries in the adjustment of the articles of
peace. Hence it is that, while every European
power is solicitous to enrich and aggrandise itself,
it can never join in any common project, the result
of which, it is fearful, may benefit its neighbour ;
and is content to suffer injury rather than its rival
should share in a common good. Hence also it is
that Christian states, instead of uniting to vindicate
their insulted faith, join together the cross and cres
cent in unholy alliance, and form degrading trea
ties with piratical powers ; and, as the summit of
political folly, present to those very powers, for
the purchase of their friendship, weapons to annoy
themselves in the first war that their avatice or
caprice shall wage. Nay, should ever a confeder
acy of the European powers be formed against
the Algerines, experience affords us but slender
hopes of its success ; for 1 will venture to assert
that, from the confederacy of Ahab and Jehosha-
phat, when they went up to battle at Ramoth
Gilead, to the treaty of Pilnitz, there never was
yet a combination of princes or nations, who, by
an actual union of thejr forces, attained the object
of their coalition. If the political finger be poin
ted to the war of the allies of queen Anne and tha 1
CAPTIVE, 197
Conquests of the d^uke of Marl borough, as an ex
ception, I likewise will point to the distcacting
period when that conqueror was superseded by the
duke of Onnorid ; and the treaty of Utrecht will
confirm the opinion 1 have advanced.
The detail of the history of the Algerines evin
ces that the arms of individual states can be attend
ed with no decisive success. Indeed the expense
of an efficacious armament would defray the price
of the dey s friendship for years ; and the powers
of Europe submit to his insults and injuries from a
principle of economy. An absolute conquest of
the Algerine territory cannot be erected but by
invasion from the interior, through the co-operation
of the grand seignior or the assistance of the other
Barbary states. The former, 1 have shown, can
not be expected ; and the latter, for obvious rea
sons, is as little to be thought of. A permanent
conquest of the city and port of Algiers cannot
be effected without the subjection of the interior
country. , Temporary though spirited attacks up
on that city and port have never answered any sal
utary purpose. They may be compared to the
destruction of our sea-ports in our revolutionary
war. The port attacked bore so small a propor
tion to the whole, that its destruction rather served
to irritate than to weaken or subjugate. It should
be considered likewise that the houses of the Alge
rines are built of slight and cheap meterials ; that
upon the approach of an enemy the rich effects of
the inhabitants are easily removed in-land, while
nothing remains but heavy fortifications to batter,
and buildings which can be readilv restored to
198 ALGERINE CAPTIVE.
destroy. The following anecdote will show
how sensible the Algerines themselves are of these
advantages. When the French vice-admiral, the
marquis de Quesne, made his first attack on Algiers,
he sent an officer with a flag on shore, who magni
fied the force of his commander, and threatened
to lay the city in ashes if the demands of the mar
quis were not immediately complied with. The
dey, who had, upon the first approach of the ene
my, removed the aged, the females, and his rich
est effects, coolly inquired of the officer how much
the levelling his city to ashes would cost. The of
ficer, thinking to increase the dey s admiration
of the power of the grand monarque, answered
two millions of livres. Tell your commander,
said the dey, if he will send me half the money I
will burn the city to ashes myself.
CHAP. LVIII.
A pattern fit for modern knights
To copy out in frays and rights.
HlJDIBRASv
ARGUMENT.
Jin JMgerine Law-Suit.
AN officer of police parades the city at uncertain
hours and in all directions, accompanied by an
executioner and^other attendants. The process of
his court is entirely verbal. He examines into
all breaches of the customs, all frauds, especially
CAPTIVE. 199
i-ti weights and measures, all sudden affrays, dis
putes concerning personal property, and compels
the performance of contracts, lie determines
causes on the spot, and the delinquent is punish
ed in his presence. The usual punishments he
inflicts are fines, beating on the soles of the feet,
dismemberment of the right hand ; and it is said
he has a power of taking life : but in such cases an
appeal lies to the dey. If complaint is made to
him of the military, the priests or officers of the
court, navy, or customs, or against persons attach
ed to the families of the consuls, envoys, or other
representatives of foreign powers, upon sugges
tion, the cause is immediately reported to the dey,
who hears the same in person, or deputes some
officer of rank to determine it, either from the civ
il, military, or religious orders, as the nature of
the cause may require. In fact, this officer of
police seldom judges any cause of great impor
tance. The object of his commission seems to
be the detection and punishment of common cheats,
and to suppress broils among the vulgar; and, as
he has the power to adapt the punishment to the
enormity of the offence, he often exercises it ca
priciously, and sometimes ludicrously. I saw a
baker who, for selling bread under weight, was
sentenced to walk the public market three times
each day, for three days in succession, with a
small loaf attached by a ring to each of his ears ;
and to cry aloud, at short distances, Bread for
the poor / This excited the resentment of the
rabble, who followed him with abundance of
cnarse ridicule* Besides this itinerant judge.,
200 ALGERINE CAPTIVE.
there are many others who never meddle with suits
unless they are brought formally before them,
which is done by mere verbal complaint ; they
send for the parties and witnesses, and determine
almost as summarily as the officer of, police. I
confess that, when I left the Unitetlj States, the
golden fee, the long bill of cost, the law s delay,
and the writings of Honestus, had taught me to
view the judicial proceedings of our country with
a jaundiced x eye ; and, when I was made ac
quainted with the Algerine mode of distributive
justice, I yearned to see a cause determined in a
court where instant decision relieved the anxiety
and saved the purses of the parties, and where
no long-winded attorney was suffered to perplex
the judge ^yith subtle argument or musty precedent.
1 was soon delighted with an excellent display of
summary justice. Observing a collection of peo
ple upon a piazza, I leaned over the rails, and dis
covered that an Algerine cadi or judge had just
opened his court. The cadi was seated cross-leg
ged on a cushion with a slave, with a whip and
batien on one side ; and another with a drawn
scimetar oft the other. The plaintiff came for-
\fard arid told his story. He charged a man who
was in custody with having sold him a mule, which
he said was sound, but which proved blind and
lame. Several witnesses were then called, who
proved the contract and the defects of the mule.
The defendant was then called upon for his de
fence. He did not deny the fact, but pleaded the
law of retaliation, lie said he was a good Mus-
siLjlmau, performed all the rites of their holy
ALGEIUNE CAPTIVE. 201
religion, had sent a proxy to the prophet s tomb
at Medina, and maintained an idiot ; that he
never cheated any man before, but was justified
in what he had done, for, ten years before, the
plaintiff had cheated him worse in the sale of a.
dromedary, which proved broken-winded. He
proved this by several witnesses, and the plaintiff
could not deny it. The judge immediately or
dered the mule and the money paid for it to be^
produced. He then directed his attendants to
seize the defendant, and give him fifty blows on
the soles of his feet for this fraud. The plaintiff
at every stroke applauded the cadi s justice to the
skies ; but no sooner was the punishment inflicted^
than, by a nqd from the judge, the exulting plain
tiff was seized, and received the same number
of blows with the batten for the old affair of the
broken- winded- dromedary. The parties were
then dismissed without costs, and the judge or
dered an officer to take the mule, sell it at pub
lic outcry, and distribute the product, with the
money deposited, in alms to the poor. The of
ficer proceeded a few steps with the* mule, and I
thought the court had risen, when the/cadi, sup
posing one of the witnesses had prevaricated in
his testimony, called back the officer who had
charge of the mule, ordered the witness to receive
twenty-five blows of the batten, and be mounted
on the back of the mule with his face towards the
fail, and be thus carried through the city, direct*
ing the mule to be stopped at every corner, where
he culprit should exclaim ; Before the enlighten
ed, excellent, just, and merciful cadi, Mir Kat-
202 ALGKRINE CAPTIVE,
chan, in the trial of Osman Beker and Abu Isoul,
I spake as I ride. The people around magnified
Mir Karchan for this exemplary justice, and J prr
sent it to my fellow-citizens. If it is generally
pleasing it may be easily introduced among us.
Some obstinate people may be still attached to our
customary modes of dispensing justice and think
that the advocates we fee, and the precedents they
quote, are but guards and enclosures round our
judges, to prevent them from capriciously invading
the rights of the citizens.
CHAP. L1X,
And though they say the Lord liveth, surely the.}
swear falsely.
JEREMIAH.
ARGUMENT.
A Mahometan Sermon*
I ONCE had an opportunity of approaching unnoti
ced the window of one of the principal mosques.
After the customary prayers, the priest pronoun
ced the following discourse with a dignified elocu
tion. It was received by his audience with a
reverence better becoming Christians than infidels.
It undoubtedly suffers from translation, and the
fickleness of my memory ; but the manner in
which it was delivered, and the energy of many
of the expressions, made so strong an impression.
ALGEKINE CAPTIVE. 203
that I think I have not materially varied from the
sentiment. I present it to the candid reader, as
a curious specimen of their pulpit eloquence ; and
as perhaps conveying a more satisfactory idea of
their creed than I have already attempted in the
account I have given of their religion. The attri
butes of Deity were the subject of the priest s
discourse ; and, after some exordium, he elevated
his voice and exclaimed :
GOD ALONE is IMMORTAL ! Ibraham and Soli-
man have slept with their fathers ; Cadijah the
first-born of faith, Ayesha the beloved, Omar the
meek, Ornri the benevolent, the companions of
the apostle and the Sent of God himself, all died ;
but God, most high, most holy, liveth for even
Infinities are to him as the numerals of arithmetic
to the sons of Adam : the earth shall vanish before
the decrees of his eternal destiny ; but he liveth
and reigneth for ever
GOD ALONE is OMNISCIENT ! Michael, whose
wings are ful! of eyes, is blind before him. The
dark night is unto him as the rays of the morning ;
for he noticeth the creeping of the small pismire
in the dark night upon the black stone, arid ap-
prehcndeth the motion of an atom in the open air.
GOD ALONE is OMNIPRESENT ! He toucheth the
immensity of space as a point. He moveth in
the depths of ocean, and mount Atlas is hidden
by the sole of his foot. He breatheth fragrant
odours to cheer the blessed in paradise, and en-
liveneth the pallid flame in the profoundest hell.
GOD ALONE is OMNIPOTENT ! He thought, and
worlds were created ; he frowneth, and they dh-
204 ALGERINE CAPtlVE.
solve into thin smoke ; he smileth, and the tar^
ments of the damned are suspended. The thun-
derings of Hermon are the whisperings of his
voice ; the rustling of his attire causeth lightning
and an earthquake ; and with the shadow of his
garment he blotteth out the sun.
GOD ALONE is MERCIFUL i When he forged
his immutable decrees on the anvil of eternal wis
dom, he tempered the miseries of the race of Is-
mael in the fountains of pity. When he laid the
foundations of the world, he cast a look of benev
olence into the abysses of futurity ; and the ad
amantine pillars of eternal justice were softened
by the beamings of his eyes. He dropped a tear
upon the embryo miseries of unborn man ; and
that tear, falling through the immeasurable lapses
of time, shall quench the glowing flames of the
bottomless pit. He sent his prophet into the
world to enlighten the darkness of the tribes ; and
hath prepared the pavilions of the hour! for the re
pose of the true believers.
GOD ALONE is JUST ! He chains the latent
cause to the distant event ; and binds them both
immutably fast to the fitness of things. He de
creed the unbeliever to wander amidst the whirl
winds of error ; and suited his soul to future tor
ment. He promulgated the ineffable creed ; and
the germs of countless souls of believers, which
existed in the contemplation of Deity, expanded
at the sound. His justice refresheth the faithful,
while the damned spirits confess it in despair.
GOD ALONE is ONE ! Ibraham the faithful
it : Mo?es declared it amidst the thunder-
ALGERINE CAPTIVE. 203
ings of Sinai ; Jesus pronounced it ; and the
messenger of God, the sword of his vengeance,
filled the world with immutable truth.
Surely there is one GOD, IMMORTAL, OMNISCIENT,
OMNIPRESENT, OMNIPOTENT, ffiOSt MERCIFUL, and
JUST ; and Mahomet is his apostle !
Lift your hands to the eternal, and pronounce the
ineffable adorable creed : THERE is ONE GOD AND
MAHOMET is HIS PROPHET !
CHAP. L.
For sufferance is the badge of all our tribe.
SHAKSPEARE.
, Of the Jews,
I HAVE thus given some succinct notices of the
history, government, religion, habits, and man
ners, of this ferocious race. I have interspersed
reflexions which I hope will be received by the
learned with candour ; and shall now resume the
thread of my more appropriate narrative.
By unremitted attention to the duties of my of
fice, and some fortunate operations in surgery, I
had now so far ingratiated myself with the direc
tor and physicians of the infirmary, that 1 was al-
fowed to be absent any hours of the day when my
business in the hospital permitted, without render
ing any special reason for my absence. I wandered
into all parts of the city where strangers were per-
18
206 ALGERlNE CAPTIVE.
milled to walk, inspecled every object I could
without giving umbrage. I sometimes strayed in
to that quarter of the city principally inhabiled by
Jews. This cunning race, since Iheir dispersion
by Vespasian and Titus, have contrived to com
pensate themselves for the loss of Palestine " by
engrossing the wealth, and often the luxuries, of ev
ery other land ; and, wearied with the expecta
tion of that heavenly king," who shall re-possess
them of the holy city, and put their enemies be
neath their feet, now solace themselves with a
Messiah whose glory is enshrined in their coffers.
Rigidly attached to their own customs, intermar
rying among themselves, content to be apparently
wretched and despised, that they may wallow in
secret wealth ; and secluded in most countries
from holding landed property,and in almostall from
filling offices of power and profit, they are general
ly received as meet instruments to do the mean
drudgery of despotic courts. The wealth which
would render a subject too powerful, the despot
can trust with an unambitious Jew ; and confide
secrets which involve his own safety to a miserable
Israelite, whom he can annihilate with a nod. The
Jews transacl almost all the dey s private business-,
besides that of the negotiations of merchants. Nay,
if an envoy from a foreign power comes to treat
with the dey, he may have the parade of a pub
lic audience ; but if he wishes to accomplish his
embassy, he must employ a Jew ; and it is said
the dey himself shares with the Jew the very sums
paid him for his influence with this politic despot
The Jews are also the spies of the dey upoji hi?
ALGERINE CAPTIVE. 207
subjects at home, and the channels of intelligence
from foreign powers. They are therefore allowed
to assemble in their synagogues ; and have fre
quently an influence at the court of the dey, with
his great officers, and even before the civil judge,
not to be accounted for from the morality of their
conduct. Popular prejudice is generally against
them ; and the dey often avails himself of it by
heavy amercements for his protection. In the
year 1690, he threatened to extripate the whole
race in his dominions, and was finally appeased
by a large contribution they raised and offered as
an expiation of a supposed offence. It was com
monly reported, that the Jews in Algiers at that
time had procured a Christian child, which they
privately purified with much ceremony, fattened,
and prepared for a sacrifice at their feasts of the
passover, as a, substitute for the paschal lamb.
This horrid tale, which should have been despised
for its absurdity and inhumanity, the dey affected
to credit. He appointed several Mahometan
priests to search the habitations of the Jews imme->
diately before the feast of the passover, who, dis
covering some bitter herbs and other customary
preparations for the festival, affected to have found
sufficient evidence against them ; and the mob of
Algiers, mad with rage and perhaps inflamed by
the usurious exactions of particular Jews, rushed
on furiously to pillage and destroy the wretched de
scendants of Jacob. Two houses were demolish
ed, and several Jews assissinated, before the ar
rival of the dey s guards, who quickly dispersed
this outrageous rabble, They dey, who desire<i
~08 ALGERINE CAPTIVE.
nothing less than the destruction of so useful a
people, was soon appeased by a large present,
and declared them innocent : and such is the pow
er of a despotic government, that the Jews were
soon received into general favour ; and the very
men who, the day before, proceeded to destroy
the whole race, now saw with tame inaction sev
eral of their fellows executed for the attempt.
CHAP. LXI.
But endless is the tribe of human ills,
And sighs might sooner cease than cause to sigh.
YOUNG.
ARGUMENT.
The Arrival of other American Captives.
RETURNING from a jaunt into the city, I was im
mediately commanded to retire to my room, and
not to quit it till further orders, which it was im
practicable to do, as the doors were fastened up
on me. The next morning my provisions were
brought to me, and the doors again carefully se
cured. Surprised at this imprisonment, I passed
many restless hours in recurring to my past con
duct, and perplexing myself in searching for some
inadvertent offence, or in dreadful apprehension
lest the present imprisonment should be a prelude
to future and more severe punishment. The stone
quarry came to my imagination in all ite horrors,
ALGERtSE CAPTIVE. 209
and the frowns of Abdel Melic again pierced my
soul. 1 attempted in vain to obtain from the slave
who brought me provisions the cause of my con
finement. He was probably ignorant : my solicit
ations were uniformly answered by a melancholy
shake of the head. The next day the director of
the hospital appeared. To him I applied with
great earnestness ; but all the information he
would give was, that it was by the dey s order
I was confined ; and that he, with the physicians
and my friend the mollah, were using all their in
fluence to obtain my release. He counselled me
to amuse myself in preparing and compounding
drugs, and promised to see me again as soon as he
could bring any good news. About a week after
an officer of the court, with a city judge, entered
my apartment, and informed me of the cause ol
iny imprisonment. From them 1 learned that se
veral American vessels had been captured ; and it
was suspected I had been conversing with my
countrymen ; and, from my superior knowledge
of the country, I might advise them how to escape*
If a man is desirous to know how he loves his
country, let him go far from home ; if to know
how he loves his countrymen, let him be with
them in misery in a strange land. I Svish not to
make a vain display of my patriotism, but I will
say that my own misfortunes upon this intelligence
were so absorbed in those of my unfortunate fellow
citizens, thus delivered over to chains and torment,
many of them perhaps separated from the ten-
derest domestic connexions and homes of ease,
jjiat 1 thought I could again have willingly
IB*
^10 ALGERINE CAPTIVE-
the lashes of the slave-driver, and sink myself be
neath the burthens of slavery, to have saved them
from an Algerine captivity. I could readily as
sure the dey s officers that 1 had not conversed with
rny miserable countrymen ; but, while 1 spake, the
idea of embracing a fellow citizen, a brother Chris
tian, perhaps some one who came from the same
state, or had been in the same town, or seen my
dear parents, passed in rapid succession, and I
was determined, betide what would, to seek them
the first opportunity. We were soon joined by
the rnollah, who repeatedly assured my examin
ers, that, though an infidel, 1 might be believed.
By his solicitation I was to be released ; but not
until I would bind myself by a solemn oath, ad
ministered after the Christian manner, that I would
never speak to any of the American slaves. When
this oath was proposed, I doubted whether to take
it ; but recollecting that, if I did not, I should be
equally debarred from seeing them, and suffer a
grievous confinement, which could do them no ser
vice, 1 consented, and bound myself never directly
or indirectly to attempt to visitor converse with
my fellow citizens in slavery. It was at the same
time intimated to me, that for the breach of this
oath I might expect to be impaled alive. Often
when I have drawn near the places of their con
finement auJ labours, I have regretted my submit
ting to this oath, and once was almost tempted to
break it, at seeing captain O Brien at some dis
tance.
ALGERINE CAPTIVE. 211
CHAP. LXII.
Now, by my hood, a Gentile and no Jew.
SHAKSPEAREo
ARGUMENT.
The Author commences Acquaintance with Ji donah
Ben Benjamin, a Jew.
AFTER I had taken this oath the officers departed,
and 1 was liberated. I was now more cautious
in my rambles, avoided the notice of the Mus-
sulrnen inhabitants, and made more frequent visits
to that part of the city inhabited by Jews and for
eigners. Refreshing myself with a glass of sher
bet in an inferior room, 1 was accosted by an old
man in mean attire, with a pack of handkerchiefs
and some remnants of silk and muslins on his back.
He asked me if I was not the learned slave, and
requested me to visit a sick sop. 1 immediately
resolved to go with him ; rejoicing that Provi
dence, in my low estate, had left me the power
to be charitable. We traversed several streets,
and stopped at the door of a house which, in ap
pearance, well suited my conductor. It had but
two windows towards the street, and those were
closed up with rough boards, the cracks of which
were stutfed with rags and straw. My conduc
tor looked very cautiously about, and then, taking
a key from bis pocket, opened the door. We pas
sed a dark entry, and I confess i shuddered as the
door closed qpoii me, reflecting that perhaps this
,.
212 ALGERINE CAPTIVE.
tnan was employed to decoy me to some secret
place, in order to assassinate me by the direction of
my superiors, who might wish to destroy me in
this secret manner. But I had but little time for
these gloomy reflexions ; for opening another door
I was startled with a blaze of light let into apart
ments splendidly furnished. My conductor now
assumed an air of importance, requested me to
repose myself on a silken couch, and retired. A
young lady who was veiled, of a graceful person
and pleasing address, soon brought a plate of
sweetmeats and a bottle of excellent wine. The
old man soon re-appeared ; but so changed in his
habit and appearance, I could scarce recognize
him. He was now arrayed in drawers of the fin
est linen, an embroidered vest, and loose gown
of the richest Persian silk. He smiled at my sur
prise, shook me by the hand, and told me that he
was a Jew ; assuring me that he was with his
brethren under the protection of the dey. The
outward appearance of his house and the meanness
of his attire abroad were, he said, necessary, to a-
void envy and suspicion. But come, said he, I
know all about you ; I can confide in you. Come,
refresh yourself with a glass of this wine ; nei
ther Moses nor your Messiah forbid the use of it.
We ate of the collation, drank our wine liberally,
and then he introduced me to his son, whom 1
found laboring under a violent ague. I adminis
tered some sudorifics, and left directions for the
future treatment of my patient. Upon my depar
ture, the Jew put a sequin into my hand, and
made me promise to visit his son again ; request^
ALGERINE CAPTIVE, 213
ing me to seat myself in the place be had fouwl
me in at the same hour the next day but one
afterwards ; and, in passing through the dark en
try, conjured me not to mention his domestic style
of living. The name of this Jew was Adonah
Ben Benjamin. I visited his son according to ap
pointment, and found him nearly restored to health
The father and son both expressed great gratitude >
but the former told me he would not pay me for
this visit in silver or gold, but with something
more valuable, by his advice. Come and see me
sometimes ; I know this people well, and may
render you more service than you expect. I af
terwards visited this Jew frequently, and from
him obtained much information. He told me, in
much confidence, that soon after I was taken, a
Jew and two ^.Igerines made a tour of the United
States, and sent home an accurate account of the
American commerce ; and that the dey was so
impressed with the idea of our wealth, that he
would never permit the American slaves to be
ransomed under a large premium, which must
be accompanied with the usual presents, as a
purchase of peace, and an annual tribute. Ex
pressing my anxiety to recover my freedom, he
advised me to write to some of the American
agents in Europe. I accordingly addressed a let
ter to William Carmichael, esq. charge des affaires
from the United States at the court of Madrid,
representing my deplorable circumstances and the
miserable state of my fellow prisoners, praying
the interference of our government, stating the
probable mode of access to the dey, and enclos-
214 ALGERINE CAPTIVE,
ing a letter to my parents. This my friend the
Jew promised to convey ; but as I never received
any answer from Mr. Carmichael, and my letters
never found the way to my friends, I conclude,
from the known humanity of that gentleman, my
letters miscarried.
Some time after I heard that the United States
had made application, through Mr Lamb, for the
redemption of their citizens, and 1 had hopes of
liberty ; intending, if that gentleman succeeded
in his negotiations, to claim my right to be ran
somed as an American citizen ; but his proposals
were scouted with contempt. I have sometimes
heard this gentleman censured for failing to accom
plish the object of his mission ; but very unjustly,
as I well remember that I, who was much inter
ested in his success, never blamed him at the time ;
and I know the ransom he offered the dey was ri
diculed in the common coffee-houses as extremely
pitiful. The few Algerines I conversed with af
fected to represent it as insulting. It was report
ed that he was empowered to offer only two hun
dred dollars per head for each prisoner indiscrim
inately, when the common price was four thou
sand dollars per head for a captain of a vessel, and
one thousand four hundred for a common fore
mast sailor. When this unsuccessful attempt fail
ed, the prisoners were treated with greater sever-
iry ; doubtless with a design to affright the Amer
icans into terms more advantageous to the dey.
Finding my hopes of release from the applica
tions of my country to fade, I consulted the friend
ly /ew, who advised me to endeavour to pay my
ALGERINE CAPTIVE . 216
own ransom, which he said might be effected with
my savings from my practice by the mediation of
a rich Jew, his relation. 1 accordingly put all
my savings into Adonah Ben Benjamin s hands,
which amounted to two hundred and eighty doU
lars, and resolved to add to it all I could procure,
To this intent 1 hoarc od up all 1 could obtain {
denying myself the slender refreshments of bath
ing, and cooling liquors, to which I had been for
some time accustomed. The benevolent Hebrew
having promised that, when I had attained the sum
requisite, within two or three hundred dollars, he
would himself advance the remainder, no miser
was ever more engaged than I was to increase my
store. After a tedious interval my prospects
brightened surprisingly. Some fortunate opera
tions which \ performed obtained me valuable
presents ; one to the amount of fifty dollars. My
stock in the Jew s hands had increased to nine
hundred dollars ; and to add to my good fortune
the Jew told me in great confidence, that, from
the pleasing account of the United States which
I had given him for I always spake of the pri
vileges of my native land with fervour he was
determined to remove with his family thither.
He said he would make up the deficiency in my
ransom, and send me home by the first European
vessel, with letters to a Mr. Lopez, a Jew, who,
he said, lived in Rhode Island or Massachusetts,
tD whom he had a recommendation from a relation
who had been in America. To Mr. Lopez he in
tended to consign his property. He accordingly
procured his friend, whose mama I did not ther*
2\(J AL.GERINE CAPTIVE.
learn, to agree about my ransom. He concluded
the contract at two thousand dollars. My friends
in the hospital expressed sorrow at parting with
ine ; and making me some pecuniary presents, I
immediately added them to my stock in the hands
of the Jew. In order to lessen the price of my
ransom, the contractor had old my master that he
was to advance the money, and take my word
N> remit it upon my return to my friends. This
story I confirmed. I went to the Jew s house,
who honestly produced all my savings ; we count*
fid them together, and he added the remainder,
tying the mooey up in two large bags. We spent
\ happy hour over a bottL of his best wine ; I in
anticipating the pleasure my parents and friends
would receive in recovering their son who was
lost, and the Jew in framing plans of commerce in
the United States, and in the enjoyment of his rich
es in a country where no despot should force from
him his honest gains ; and what added to my en
joyment was the information that a vessel was to
sail for Gibraltar in two days, in which he assu
red me he would procure me a passage. I retur
ned to the hospital, exulting in my happy pros*
pects. 1 was quite bes! :!e myself with joy. I
capered and danced as merrily as my youthful
acquaintance at a husking. Sometimes I would
be lost in thought, and then burst suddenly into
loud laughter. The next day, towards evening.
I hastened to the house of my friend the Jew, to
see if he had engaged my passage, and to gratify
myself with conversing upon my native land. Be-
\r\% intimate in the family. I was entrusted with a
A&GERINE CAPTIVE. 217
key of the front door. I opened it hastily, and,
passing the entry, knocked for admittance at the
inner door, which was soon opened ; but, instead
of the accustomed splendor, all was gloomy the
windows darkened, and the family in tears : poor
Adonah Ben Benjamin had that morning been struck
with an apoplexy, and slept with his fathers. I
soon retired, as sincere a mourner as the nearest
kindred. I had indeed more reason to mourn than
I conceived; for, upon applying to his son for his
assistance in perfecting my freedom, which his
good father had so happily begun, he professed the
utmost ignorance of the whole transaction ; decla
red that he did not know the name of the agent
his father had employed, and gave no credit to
my account of the monies I had lodged with his
father. I described the bags. He coolly an
swered, that the God of his father Abraham had
blessed his father Adonah with many such bags.
I left him, distracted with my disappointment.
Sometimes I determined to relate the whole sto
ry to the director of the hospital, and apply for
legal redress to a cadi; but the specimen I had
of an Algerine law-suit deterred me. I had been
so inadvertent as to countenance the story that a
Jew was to advance the whole sum for me. If
I had been a Mussulman I might have attested to
my story ; but a slave is never admitted as an
evidence in Algiers, the West Indies, or the
Southern States. The disappointment of my
hopes were soon known in the hospital, though
the hand of Adonah Ben Benjamin had in the con-
rao-t remained a secret. The artful JRW
2 IB ALGERINE CAPTIVE.
had contracted for my ransom, fearing he should
have to advance the money himself, spread a re
port that I was immensely rich in my own country.
This corning to the ears of my master he raised
my ransom to six thousand dollars, which the wily
Israelite declining to pay, the contract was dis
solved. From my master I learned his name, and
waited upon him, hoping to obtain some evidence
of Adonah s having received my money, at least
so far as to induce his son to restore it. But the
Jew positively declared that Adonah never told
him other than that he Was to advance the cash
himself. Thus, from the brightest hopes of free
dom, 1 was reduced to despair, my money lost,
and my ransom raised. I bless a merciful God
that I was preserved from the desperate folly of
suicide. I never attempted my life ; but when I
lay down I often hoped that I might never awake
again in this world of misery. I grew dejected,
and my flesh wasted. The physicians recom
mended a journey into the country, which my
master approved ; for, since the report of my
wealth in my native land, he viewed my life as
valuable to him, as he doubted not but my friends
would one day ransom me at an exhorbitant pre
mium.
ALGERINE CAPTIVE. 219
CHAP. LXIIL
No gentle breathing breeze prepares the spring ;
No birds within the desert regions sing.
PHILIPS,
ARGUMENT.
The Author, by Permissson of his Master, travels
to Medina , the Burial-Place of the Prophet
Mahomet.
THE director soon after proposed that I should at
tend some merchants as a surgeon in a voyage and
journey to Medina, which is the burial, as Mecca
is the birth place of the prophet Mahomet ; assur
ing me that I should be treated with respect, and
indeed find some agreeable companions -on the
tour, as several of the merchants were infidels
like myself, and that any monies I might ac
quire by itinerant practice should be my own.
1 accepted this proposal with pleasure, and was
soon leased to two Mussulman merchants, who
gave a kind of bond for my safe return to my
master. I had cash advanced me to purchase
medicines and a case of surgeon s instruments,,
which I was directed to stow in a large leather
wallet. I took a kind leave of my patrons in the
hospital, who bestowed many little presents of
sweetmeats, dates, and oranges. I waited upon
the good mollah, who presented me with fifty dol
lars. I have charity to believe that this man,
Chough an apostate, was sincere in his faith in the
220 ALGERINE CAPTITE.
Mahometan creed. He pressed ray hand at part
ing, gave me many salutary cautions as to my
conduct during the voyage ; and said, while the
tears started in his eyes, my friend, you have suf
fered much misfortune and misery in a short life ;
let me conjure you not to add the torments of the
future to the miseries of the present world. But,
added he, pausing, who shall alter the decrees of
God ? I flatter myself that the scales of natal pre
judice will yet fall from your eyes, and that jour
name has heen numbered among the faithful from
all eternity.
Our company consisted of two Algerine mei>
chants or factors, twenty pilgrims, nine Jews,
among whom was the son of my deceased friend
Adonah, and two Greek traders from Chios, who
carried with them several bales of silks and a
quantity of mastic, to vend at Scandaroon, Grand
Cairo, and Medina. We took passage in a xebec ;
and, coasting the African shore, soon passed the
ruins of ancient Carthage, the Bay of Tunis ;
and, weathering Cape Bona and steering south
easterly, one morning hove in sight of the island
of Malta, inhabited by the knights of that name,
who are sworn enemies of the Mahometan faith.
I could perceive that the sight of this island gave
a sensible alarm to the crew and passengers : but
the captain, or rather the skipper, who was a
blustering rough renegado, affected great courage,
and swore that if he had but one cannon on board
he would run down and give a broadside to the
infidel dogs. Plis bravery was soon put to the
test ; for, as the sun arose, we could discern plain-
ALGER1NE CAPTIVE. 221
\y an armed vessel bearing down upon us. She
overhauled us fast, and our skipper conjectuied
she bore the Maltese colours. All hands were
now summoned to get out some light sails, and
several oars were put out, at which the brave skip
per tugged as lustily as the meanest of us. When
the wind lulled, and we gained of the vessel, he
would run on the quarters of the xebec, and hol
low 4 Come on you Christian dogs, 1 am ready
for you ! J I have some doubts whether the vessel ever
noticed us : if she did she despised us ; for she
tacked and stood to the south-west. This was no
sooner perceived by our gallant commander, than
he ordered the xebec to lay to, and swore that he
would pursue the uncircumcised dogs and board
them ; but he first would prudently ask the ap
probation of t^he passengers, who instantly deter
mined one and all that their business was such
that they must insist upon the captain s making
his best way to port. The captain consented, but
not without much grumbling at his misfortune in
losing so fine a prize ; and declared that, when
he had landed his passengers, he would directly
quit the port and renew the chase. After a smart
run we dropt anchor in the port of Alexandria,
called by the Turks Scandaroon. This is the site
of the ancient Alexandria, founded by Alexander
the Great ; though its present appearance would
not induce an opinion of so magnificent a founder.
It lies not far from the westernmost branch 6f the
river Nile, by which, in ancient days, it was sup
plied with water. The antiquarian eye may pos
sibly observe, in the scattered fragments of rocks>
19*
CAPTIVE.
the vestiges of the ruins of its ancient grandeur ;
but a vulgar traveller, from the appearance of the
harbour choked with sand, the miserable buildings
and more wretched inhabitants of the town, would
not be led to conclude that this was the port which
rose triumphant on the ruins of Tyre and Car
thage. We here hired camels ; and being joined
by a number of pilgrims and traders, collected
irom various parts of the Levant, we proceeded
towards Grand Cairo, the present capital of Egypt ;
and after travelling three days or rather three
nights for we generally reposed in the heat of
the day, which is severe from one hour after the
sun s rising until it sets we came to a pretty
town on the west bank of the Nile, called Gize,
and hence passed over on rafts to the city of
Grand Cairo, called by the Turks Almizer, the
suburbs of which extend to the river ; but the
principal town commences its proper boundaries
at about three miles east of the Nile. I was now
within a comparatively short distance of two mag
nificent curiosities which I had ever been desirous
of beholding : the city of Jerusalem was only
about five days journey to the south-east, and i
had even caught a glimpse of the pyramids near
Gize. 1 went with my masters and others to see
a deep stoned pit in the castle, called Joseph s
well, and said to have been dug by the direction
of that patriarch. I am not antiqarian enough to
know the particular style of architecture of Jo
seph s well ; but the water was sweet and ex
tremely cold. The Turks say that Ptitiphar s
r vifc did not cease to persecute Joseph with her
ALGERJNE CAPTIVE.
OO .
iove after he was released from prison and advan
ced to power ; but that the patriarch was warned
by a dream to dig this well, and invite her to
drink of the water, which she had no sooner done,
than one cup of it so effectually cooled her de
sires, that she was ever afterwards an eminent
example of the most frigid chastity. In ,0rand
Cairo we were joined by many pilgrims from
Palestine and the adjacent countries. The third
day our caravan, which consisted of three hundred
camels and dromedaries, set out for Medina under
the convoy of a troop of Mamaluke guards, a taw
ny, raw-boned, ill clothed people. Some of the
merchants and even pilgrims made a handsome ap
pearance in person, dress, and equipage. I was my
self well mounted upon a camel, and carried with
me only my leather wallet of drugs, which I dis
pensed freely v among the pilgrims ; my masters
receiving the ordinary pay, while I collected many
small sums, which the gratitude of my patients ad
ded to the usual fee. We passed near the north
arm of the Red Sea 3 and then pursued our jour
ney south until we struck the same arm again,
near the place where the learned Wortley Monta
gue has concluded that the Israelites, under the
conduct of Moses, effected their passage. The
breadth of the sea here is great, and the waters
deep and turbulent. The infidel may sneer if he
chooses ; but, for my own part, 1 am convinced
beyond a doubt, that, if the Israelites passed in
this place, it must have been by the miraculous
interposition of a divine power. I could not re
gain from reflecting upon the infatuated temerity
224 ALGERINE CAPTIVE.
which impelled the Egyptian king (o follow them,
Weil does the Latin poet exclaini-^-Qwem Deus
oult perdere, prius dementat ! We then travelled
east until we came to a small village called Ta-
dah. Here we filled many goat-skins with water,
and laded our camels with them. In addition to
my wallet 1 received two goat-skins or bags of
water upon my camel. The weight this useful
animal will carry is astonishing ; and the facility
and promptitude with which he kneels to receive
his rider and burden surprising. We now entered
the confines of Arabia Petrea, very aptly denom
inated the Rocky Arabia ; for, journeying south
east, we passed over many ridges of mountains
which appeared of solid rocks, while the rallies
and plains between them were almost a quick
sand. Not a tree, shrub, or vegetable, is to be
seen. In these vallies the sun poured intolerable
day, and its reflections from the land were insup
portable. No refreshing breeze is here felt. The
intelligent traveller often fears the rising of the
wind, which blows such sulty gales that man and
beast often sink beneath them, " never to rise
again," or, when agitated into a tempest, drive
the sand with such tumultuous violence as to over
whelm whole caravans... Such indeed were the
stories told me as I passed ; these dreary plains.
The only inconvenience I sustained arose from the
intense heat of the sun, and the chills of the night
which our thin garments were not calculated to
exclude. On the third day after we left Tadah,
the water which we transported on our camels was
nearly expended. These extraordinary -animal*
ALGER1NE CAPTIVE. 225
had not drank but once since our departure. Near
the middle of the fourth day, 1 observed our cam
els snuff the air, and soon set off in a brisk trot,
and just before night brought us to water. This
was contained in only one deep well, dug like a
reversed pyramid, with steps to descend on every
side to the depth of one hundred feet ; yet the
sagacity of the camel had discovered this water at
perhaps twenty miles distance. So my fellow
travellers asserted ; but I have since thought,
whether these camels, from frequently passing this
desert country, did not discover their approach to
water rathef from the eye noting familiar objects
than the actual scenting the water itself. A horse
that has journeyed the whole day will quicken his
step at night, upon a familiar road, within some
miles of an accustomed stable. Our escort de
lighted in the marvellous. Many a dreadful story
did they tell of poisonous winds and overwhelm
ing sands ; and of the fierce wandering Arabs,
who captured whole caravans and ate their prison
ers, Many a bloody battle had they fought with
this cruel banditti, in which, according to their
narratives, they always came off conquerors. Fre
quently were we alarmed, to be in readiness to
combat these savage free-booters ; though I never
saw but two of the wild Arabs in the whole of our
journey. They joined us at a little village east
of Islarnboul, and accosted us with great civility.
They were dressed in blue frocks, girded round
the waste with party-coloured sashes, in which
were stuck a pistol and a long knife. Their legs
were bare, and sheep-skin caps covered their head^,
226 ALGERINE CAFTIVE.
Their complexions were sallow, but their garments
and persons were clean. Indeed their dress and
address evinced them to be of a more civilized
race than our guards, who affected to treat them
with lofty hauteur ; and when they departed as
sured us that they were spies, and that an attack
from their countrymen might now be apprehended
with certainty ; if, said the leader of our escort,
they are not terrified by finding you under our
protection.
CHAP. LXIV.
Procul ! O procul ! est profani.
VIRGIL,
ARGUMENT.
The Author is blessed with the Sight and Touch of
a most holy Mahometan Saint.
WHEX we were within one day s journey of Me
dina, we halted for a longer time than usual ; oc
casioned, as I found, by the arrival of a most
holy saint. As I had never seen a saint, being
bread in a land where even the relics of these holy
men are not preserved for I believe all New-
England cannot produce so much as a saint s rot
ten tooth or toe-nail I was solicitous to see and
converse with thi blessed personage. I soon dis
covered him in the midst of about fifty pilgrims,
some of whom were devoutly touching their for^
ALGEEINE CAPTIVE. 227
heads with the hem of his garment, while others
still more devout prostrated themselves on the
ground, and kissed the prints of his footsteps in
the sand. Though I was assured that he was fill
ed with divine love, and conferred felicity on all
who touched him, yet to outward appearance he
was the most disgusting contemptible object I had
ever seen. Figure to yourselves, my readers, a
little decrepit old man, made shorter by stooping,
with a countenance which exhibited a vacant
stare, his head bald, his finger and toe-nails as
long as hawks claws, his attire filthy, his face,
neck, arms, and legs begrimed with dirt and
swarming with vermin, and you will have some
faint idea of this mussulman saint. As I was too
reasonable to expect that holiness existed in a
man s exterior, v l waited to hear him speak ; anti
cipating from his lips the profoundest wisdom,
delivered in the honeyed accents of the saints in
bliss. At length he spake ; and his speech be
trayed him a mere idiot. While this astonished
me, it raised the respect of his admirers, who es
timated his sanctity in an inverse ratio to the
strength of his intellects. If they could have
ascertained that he was born an idiot, I verily
believe they would have adored him ; for the Ma
hometans are taught by their Alcoran, that the
souls of saints are often lodged in the bodies of
idiots ; and these pious souls being so intent on
the joys of paradise is the true reason that the ac
tions of their bodies are so little suited to the
manners of this world. This saint, however,
did not aspire to the sanctity of a genuine idiot
228 ALGEIUNE CAPTIVE.
though I fancy his modesty injured his preferment
for he certainly had very fair pretensions. It
was resolved that the holy man should go with us ;
and, to my great mortification and disgust, he was
mounted behind me on the same camel ; my Ma-
hometant friends probably conceiving that he
would so far communicate his sanctity by contact,
as that it might affect my conversion to their faith.
Whatever were their motives, in the embraces of
this nanseous being, with the people prostrating
themselves in reverence on each side, I made my
entry into the city of Medina.
CHAP. LXV.
There appears to be nothing in their nature above
the power of the devil*
EDWARDS on Religious Affections.
ARGUMENT.
The Auther visits the City of Medina Description
of the Prophet s Tomb, and principal Mosque.
MEDINA Tadlardh, erroneously called Medina Tal-
mabi, is situated in Arabia Deserta, about forty-
five miles east from the borders of the Red Sea.
To this place, as has been before related, the
prophet fled when driven from Mecca his birth-
place ; and here he was buried, and his remains
still are preserved in a silver coffin, ornamented
with a golden crescent , enriched with jewel-, co* -
ALGERINE CAPTIVE. I2 ( J
ered with cloth of gold, supported upon silver tres-
sels, and shadowed by a canopy embroidered
with silk and gold thread upon silver tissue.
This canopy is renewed annually by the bashaw
of Egypt, though other bashaws and great men
among the Turks often assit in the expense, or
augment the value of the yearly present by silver
lamps and other ornaments The whole are con
tained in a magnificent mosque, in which are sus
pended innumerable gold and silver lamps, some
of which are kept continually burning, and
all are lighted on certain public occasions,
and even upon the approach of some dignified
pilgrim. 1 had not acquired sufficient holiness
from my blessed companion to be permitted to
enter this sanctified building. The Arabians are
proiusely extravagant in the titles they bestow on
the city of Medina ; calling it the most holy,
most renowned, most excellent city ; the sanctuary
of the blessed fugitive ; model of the refulgent
city in the celestial paradise ; and some of the
great vulgar suppose that when the world shall
be destroyed this city, with the prophet s remains,
will be transported by angels with all its inhab
itants to paradise. We tarried there but a few
hours, as the great object of the devotions of the
pilgrims was Mecca. Pilgrimages are performed
to both places ; but those to Medina are not indis
pensably necessaary, being directed by the book
of the companions of the apostle, while those to
Mecca are enjoined by the Alcoran itself The
former are supposed meritorious, the latter neces-
"ary to ^alvation. I had the curiosity to inquire
20
230 ALGERINE CAPTIVE.
respecting the prophet s coffin being suspended
in the air by a Joad -stone, and was assured that
this was a mere Christian obloquy, as no preten
sions of any such suspension were ever made.
CHAP. LXVI.
The heaven of heavens cannct contain thee.
BIBLE.
ARGUMENT.
The Author visits Mecca : Description of the Al
Kaaba, or house of God.
BEING freed from my blessed companion, I had
an agreeable journey from Medina to Mecca,
which is the most ancient city in all Arabia ;
>situated about two hundred miles south-east of Me
dina, twenty-one degrees and forty-five minutes
north latitude, and one hundred and sixteen de
grees east longitude from Philadelphia, according
to late American calculations. 1 saw the great
mosque in the centre of Mecca, which, it is
said, far surpasses in grandeur that of Sancta So
phia in Constantinople. It certainly is a very
august building, the roof of which is refulgent ;
but even the inhabitants smiled at my credulity.
when I observed that I had read it was covered
with plated gold. This mosque contains within
its limits the grand object of the mussulman s pil
grimage the al kaaba, or house of God, said to
ALGER1NE CAPTIVE. 231
have been built by the hands of the patriarch
Abraham ; to confirm which the Arabian priests
show a black stone, upon which they say Abra
ham laid his son Isaac, when he had bound him in
preparation for his intended sacrifice. This stone
and building were great objects of veneration be
fore the mission of the prophet, and he artfully
availed himself of this popular prejudice, in ren
dering the highest respect to the holy house in his
life-time, and enjoining upon his followers, with
out distinction among males, to visit it once in
their lives. The advent of the prophet was said
to be announced from the four corners of the house,
which exhibit the four cardinal points. Few pil
grims are permitted to enter this sacred venerable
building ; but after travelling some of them per
haps a thousand miles, they are content to pros
trate themselves in the courts whiclf surround it.
Few Mahometans perform this pilgrimage in per
son ; those who do are highly respected. This
pilgrimage was enjoined by the prophet to be per
formed in person; but, when he laid this injunc
tion, it is not probable he anticipated the extensive
spread of his doctrines. So long as his disciples
were limited by the boundaries of Arabia, or had
only extended themselves over a part of Syria,
this pious journey was practicable and easy; but
when the crescent rose triumphant on the sea-coast
cmd most of the interior of Africa, when it shone
with splendor in Persia, Tartary, and Turkey,
and even adorned the Moorish minarit in Spain,
actual pilgrimage was deemed impracticable ; and
the faithful were allowed to visit the kaaba by fa*
232 ALGERINE CAPT1YE.
puty. The ingenuity of modern times has alle
viated this religious burden still further, by aliow-
ing the deputy to substitute other attorneys under
him. Thus for example the pious mussulmart
in Belgrade will employ a friend at Constantinople,
who will empower another friend atScandaroon to
procure a confidential friend at Grand Cairo to go
in the name of him at Belgrade, and perform his
pilgrimage to Mecca. Certificates of these seve
ral substitutions are preserved, and the lazy mus-
sulman hopes by this finesse to reap the rewards
of the faithful in paradise.
6HAP. LXVII.
Sweeter than the harmonica or lute,
Or lyre swept by the master s pliant hand,
Soft as the hymns of infant seraphim,
Are the young sighings of a contrite heart.
AUTHOR S Manuscript Poems,
ARGUMENT.
The Author returns to Scandaroon Finds Ado-
natts Son sick His Contrition Is restored to
Health.
AFTER tarrying sixteen days at Mecca, during
which time my masters fasted, prayed, performed
their devotions at the kaaba, and sold their mer
chandize, we retraced the same route to Scanda-
Here we found tjbe son of Adonah Ben Ben-
ALGEttlNE CAPTIVE. 233
j^ihin, who had been detained in this place by
sickness, so weakened from a tedious slow fever
that his life was despaired of. He expressed
great joy at our return, and begged my profession
al assistance ; assuring me that he esteemed his
present disorder a judicial punishment from the God
of his fathers for the injury he had done me ; can
didly confessing that he knew of his father s hav
ing received my money, which he would restore
upon our return to Algiers, if I would effect his
recovery. He prevailed upon my masters that I
should abide in the house with him during their
absence, as they were engaged upon a trading
tour to a place called Ginge upon the river Nile.
I exerted all my skill, both as a physician and
nurse. Perhaps my attention in the latter capa
city, assisted by his youth, was of more service
than my presbriptions. Be that as it may, he re
covered rapidly, and in ten days was able to walk
the streets ; but I could not help noticing with
sorrows that as his strength increased his gratitude
and promises to refund my money decreased.
CHAP. LXVIII.
O what a goodly outside falsehood hath !
SHAKSPEARE,
ARGUMENT,
TJie Gratitude of a Jew.
ONE day, walking on the beach, the Jew looked,
me steadily in the face ; and laying his haw?
20*
234 ALGERINE CAPTIVE.
upon my shoulder, said, I owe you my life, I owe
you money, which you cannot oblige me to pay.
You think a Jew will always deceive in money
matter* : you are mistaken. You shall not wait
for your pay in Algiers ; I will pay you here in
Alexandria. I owe you one thousand dollars on
my father s account. Now what do you demand
for restoring me to health ? Nothing, replied I,
overjoyed at his probity ; restore me my money,
and you are welcome to my services. This must
not be, said the son of Adonah, I have done wick
edly, but mean not only to pay you but satisfy my
own conscience. I will allow you in addition to
the one thousand dollars, two thousand more for
your assistance as a physician ; and then will ad
vance three thousand more, which 1 will take
your word to repay me when you are able. I
was astonished. I seized his hand and felt his
pulse, to discover if he was not delirious. His
pulse were regular, and I knew his ability to per
form his promise. We will meet here on the
morrow, and I will pay you. I met him the next
day, and he was not ready to make payment. I
now begun to doubt his promises, and blame my
self for the delusions of hope. By his appoint
ment I met him the third day, on a retired part
of the beach westward from the port. We now
saw a man approaching us. That man, said the Jew,
. will pay you. You well understand, my friend,
that your ransom is fixed at six thousand dollars.
Now, whoever gives you your liberty, really pays
you that sum. I have engaged the person who is
Approaching, and who is the master of a small ves-
te!, to i!T:ji?port you to Gibraltar, whence you
ALGKRINE CAPTIVE.
Lii,jy find your way home. The man now joined
us and confirmed the words of the Jew, for whom
he professed a great friendship. It was concluded
that 1 should come to that spot immediately after
dark, where 1 should find a small boat waiting to
x:arry me on board the vessel the master of the
vessel declaring, that he run a great risk in assist
ing in my escape ; but was willing to do it out of
commiseration for me, and friendship of the
Jew ; and reminded me, that 1 had better pack
up all my property and bring it with me. 1 has-
U ned home with the Jew, and collected all the
property I could with propriety call my own ;
Vvhich consisted of a few clothes, and to the am
ount of three hundred and twenty dollars in cash.
As soon as it was dark, the Jew accompanied me
to the beach, and then took an affectionate leave of
me, presenting me with the value of ten dollars as
a loan, gravely remarking, that now I owed him.
three thousand and ten dollars, which he hoped I
would transport to him as soon as I arrived in
America. The Jew quitted me, and I soon dis
covered the approach of the boat, which I stept
into with a light heart, congratulating myself that
1 was again A FREE MAN. The boat soon rowed
along-side of a vessel that was laying to for us.
1 jumped on board, and was directly seized by
two men, who bound me and hurried me below
iJeck ; and, after robbing me of all my property,
lett me in the dark to my own reflexions. 1 had
been so long the sport of cruel fortune, that these
T *vere not so severe as my sympathising readers
may conjecture ;~ repeated misfortunes blunt sen-
ability. I perceived that I had been played a
236 ALGERINE CAPTIVE.
villanous trick, and exchanged a tolerable slavery
for one perhaps more insupportable ; but should
have been perfectly resigned to my fate, if the
fear of being returned to Algiers and suffering the
dreadful punishment already related had not pre
sented itself. In the morning I requested to see
the captain ; and by his orders was brought upon
deck. To my surprise, it was not the same per
son who had decoyed me on board. I was con
founded. 1 intended to have expostulated ; but
could I tell a stranger, a man who appeared a
mussulmari by his garb, that I was a ruuaway
slave ? While I was perplexing myself what to say,
the man who had decoyed me on board appeared,
He was a passenger, and claimed me as his slave,
having purchased me, as he said, for four hund-
dred sequins of a Jew, my former master, and.
meant to carry me with him to Tunis. I was
now awakened to all the horrors of my situation.
I dared not irritate my new master by contradic
tions, and acquiesced in his story in dumb despair,
On the eighth day after we departed from Scan-
daroon the vessel made Cape Bona, and expected
soon to anchor in the port of Tunis. My master
had a Portuguese slave on board, who slept in the
birth with me. He spoke a little broken English,
having been formerly a sailor on board a vessel of
that nation. He gave me the mo?t alarming ap
prehensions of the cruelty of our master, but flat
tered me by saying that the Tunese in general
vrere more mild with their slaves than the Alge-
rines, and allowed a freer intercourse with the
European merchants : and by their interference
we might obtain our liberty. While my fellow
ALGER1NE CAPTIVE. 237
slave slept, I lay agonising with the dread of en
tering the port of Tunis. Often did I wish that
some friendly rock or kindly leak would sink me
and my misfortunes ; and I was nigh being grat
ified in my desperate wishes ; for the same night
a tremendous storm arose, and the gale struck us
with such violence, that our sails were instantly
flittered into rags. We could not show a yard
of canvass, and were obliged to scud under bare
poles. Tbe night was excessively dark ; and, to
increase our distress, our ballast shifted and we
were obliged to cut away our masts by the board
to save us from foundering. The vessel righted ;
but being strong and light, and the hatchways be
ing well secured, our captain was only fearful of
being driven on some Christian coast. The next
Might the wind lulled : and the morning after the
sun arose clear, and we found ourselves off the
coast of Sardinia, and within gun-shot of an arm
ed vessel. She proved to be a Portuguese frigate.
To the confusion and dismay of our captain and
passengers, and to the great joy of myself and
fellow slave, the frigate hoisted her colours, manned
her boats, and boarded us. No sooner was his
national flag displayed than the overjoyed Portu
guese ran below and liberated me from my fetters,
hugged me in raptures, and, hauling me upon deck,
the first man we met was our master, whom he
saluted with a kick, and then spit in his face. I
must confess that this reverse of fortune made me
feel for the wretched mussulman, who stood quiv
ering with apprehensions of instant death. I could .
not refrain from endeavouring to prevent the Por
tuguese from avenging himself for the cruelties be
-05 ALGE1UNE CAPTIVE.
had suflfered under this Barbarian. The boate
soon boarded us and secured the captain and crew,
whom they treated with as bitter contempt ;^
my fellow had exercised towards our late master.
This poor fellow soon introduced me to his coun
trymen with a brief account of my country and
misfortunes.
CHAP. LXiX.
How glorious now ! how changed since yesterday J
ANON.
ARGUMENT.
Conclusion.
THE Portuguese officers treated me with polite
ness ; and when they were rifling the vessel, re
quested me to select my property from the plunder.
I was then sent on board the frigate. The cap
tain expressed much joy at being the means of my
deliverance, and told me that the Portuguese had a
sincere regard for the Americans ; and that he re
ceived express orders to protect our commerce from
the Barbary corsairs. The prisoners were brought
on board and confined below ; and after every
thing valuable was taken from the prize, the ship
stood for the Straits of Gibraltar, leaving a boat
to fire the Tunese vessel. I never received more
civility than from the officers of this frigate, la
compliment to them, 1 was obliged to throw my
Mahometan dress over the ship s side ; for they
furnished me with every necessary, and many or
namental articles of European clothing. The sur
geon was particularly attentive. I lent hirn some
assistance among the sick, his mate being unwell \
ALGERI?;E CAPTIVE* 230
ant], among other presents, he gave me a hand-*
some pocket-case of surgical instruments. After a
pleasant voyage, we anchored in port Logus in
the southern extremity of Portugal. PJere I re
ceived the agreeable intelligence that the United
States were about commencing a treaty with the
dey of Algiers, by the agency of Joseph Donald
son, junesq. which would liberate my unhappy
fellow citizens, and secure the American commerce
from future depredations. Without landing, I had
the good fortune to obtain a passage on board an,
English merchantman bound for Bristol, captain,
Joseph Joceline commander. We had a prospe
rous voyage to the Land s End ; and, very fortu
nately for me, just oil the little isle of Lundy,
spake with a brigantine bound to Chesapeak Bay,
captain John Harris commander. In thirty-two
days we made v Cape Charles, the north chop of
the Chesapeak, and 1 prevailed upon the cap-
tnin to set me on shore ; and on the third day of
May, 1795, I landed in my native country after
nn absence of seven years and one month ; about
six years of which I had been a slave. I purcha
sed a horse, and hastened home to my parents,
who received me as one risen from the dead. I
shall not attempt to describe their emotions, or
my own raptures. I had suffered hunger, sickness,
fatigue, insult, stripes, wounds, and every other
cruel injury; and was now under the roc f of the
kindest and tenderest of parents. I had been de-
^rnded to a slave, and was now advanced to a
citizen of the freest country in the universe. I
had been lost to my parents, friends, and coun-
tvy : and now four). I, in the embraces and con-
2 40 ALGERINE CAPTIVE.
gratulations of the former, and the rights- and
protections of the latter, a rich compensation for
all past miseries. From some minutes I preser
ved I compiled these memoirs ; and, by the sol
icitations of some respectable friends, have been
induced to submit them to the public. A long
disuse of my native tongue will apologise to the
learned reader for any inaccuracies.
I now mean to unite myself to some amiable
woman, to pursue my practice as a physician,
which I hope will be attended with more success
than when essayed with the inexperience and
giddiness of youth ; to contribute cheerfully to tbe
support of our excellent government, which I have
learnt to adore in schools of despotism ; and thus
secure to myself the enviable character of an use
ful physician, a good father, and worthy FEDERAL
citizen.
My ardent wish is, that my fellow cifens
may profit by my misfortunes. If they peruse
these pages with attention, they will perceive the
necessity of uniting our federal strength to en
force a due respect among other nations. Let
us one and all endeavour to sustain the general
government. Let no foreign emissaries inflame
tis against one nation, by raking up the ashes of
long extinguished enmity ; or delude us into the
extravagant schemes of another, by recurring to
fancied gratitude. Our first object is union
among ourselves. For to no nation besides the
United States can that ancient saying be more
ctnpbaticaliy applied BY UNITING WE STAKD,
*tf DlVimXO "WE FAIJ;.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
Page,
THE Author giveth an account of his gal
lant Ancestor Captain John Underbill, his
Arrival in Massachusetts, and Persecution
by the first Settlers 9
CHAP. II.
\
The Author rescueth from oblivion a valua
ble Manuscript Epistle, reflecting great
Light on the judicial Proceedings in the
first Settlement of Massachusets : Apol-
ogiseth for the persecutors of his Ancestor 15
CHAP. III.
Captain Underbill seeks shelter in Dover,
in New Hampshire : Is chosen Governor
by the Settlers : Driven by the pious Zeal
of his Persecutors to seek shelter in Al
bany : Reception among the Dutch : Ex
ploits in the Indian Wars : Grant of a val-
fiable Tract of Land : The Author, antics
21
242 coNTE^ 7 Ts.
pates his encountering certain Land Spec
ulators in Hartford : A taste of the Senti
ments of those Gentlemen : Farther Ac
count of his Ancestors 20
CHAP. IV.
The Author s Birth, and a remarkable Dream
of his Mother : Observations on foreboding
Dreams : The Author reciteth a Dream
by Sir William Phipps, Governor of Mas
sachusetts, and referreth small Infidels to
Mather s Magnalia ------- - 22
CHAP. V.
The Author is placed at a private School :
Parental Motives to a College Education :
Their design frustrated by Family Misfor
tune 24
CHAP. VI.
This Chapter containeth an Eulogy on the
Greek Tongue - - 28
CHAP. VII.
The Author keepeth a Country School : The
Anticipations, Pleasures, and Profits of a
Pedagogue -----.* ~ ~ 3J
CONTENTS. 243
CHAP. VIII.
A sure Mode of discovering the Bent of a
young Man s Genius 37
CHAP. IX.
The Author commences the Study of Physic
with a celebrated Physician and Oculist :
A Philosophical Detail of the Operation of
Couching for the Gutta Serena, by his Pre
ceptor, upon a young man, born blind - 39
CHAP. X.
Anecdotes of the celebrated Doctor Moyes - 46
v CHAP. XL
The Author spouteth Greek in a Sea Port :
Its Reception among the polite : He at-
tempteth an Ode in the Style of the Ancients 47
CHAP. XII.
The Author in imminent Danger of his Life
in a Duel -...- - - 49
CHAP. XIII.
The Author is happy in the acquaintance of
a learned Lady - - - 55
244 CONTENTS.
CHAP. XIV.
The Author quitteth the Study of Gallantry
for that of Physic; He eulogiseth the
Greek Tongue, and complimenteth the
Professors of Cambridge, Yale, and Dart
mouth ; and giveth a gentle Hint to careless
Readers ^ - - 58
CHAP. XV,
The Author panegyrizes his Preceptor 60
CHAP. XVI.
Doctor Underhill visiteth Boston and maketh
no Remarks -----.... gj
CHAP. XVII.
The Author inspects the Museum at Har
vard College : Account of the wonderful
Curiosities, natural and artificial, he saw
there 62
CHAP. XVIII.
The Author mounteth his Nag, and setteth
out full speed to seek Practice, Fame, and
Fortune, as a Country Practitioner - - 63
CHAP. XiX.
^he Author encountereth Folly, Igrorance,
CONTESTS. 24
Impudence, Imbecility and Quacks : The ,
Characters of a learned, a cheap, a safe,
3nd a musical Doctor 6$
CHAP. XX.
Sketch of an hereditary Doctor, and a lite
rary Quack : Critical Operation in Surgery #7
CHAP. XXL
A Medical Consultation 73
CHAP. XXII.
Disappointed in the North, trie l &uihor seek-
eth Treasure in the South - .... 75
CHAP. XXIIL
Anecdotes of Doctor Benjamin Franklin,
whom the Author visits in Philadelphia - 77
CHAP. XXIV.
Religious Exercises in a Southern State - -
CHAP. XXVC
Success of the Doctor s southern Expedition :
He is in Distress ; Contemplates a School :
Prefers a Surgeon s Birth on board a Ship
bound to Africa, via London ---$
21*
246 CONTENTS,
CHAP. XXVI.
London - - - --*---.*. gf
CHAP. XXVII.
The Author passeth by the Lions in the Tow
er, and the other Insignia of British Roy
alty, and seeth a greater Curiosity, called
Thomas Paine, Author of the Rights of
Man : Description of his Person, Habit,
and Manners : In this chapter due Meed
is rendered to a great American historical
Painter, and a prose Palinode over our
Lack of the fine Arts 89
,j
CHAP. XXVIIL
Curious Argument between Thomas Paine
and the noted Peter Pindar : Peter setteth
a Wit Noose, and catcheth Thomas in one
of his own Logic-Traps ----- 91
CHAP. XXIX.
Reasonable Conjectures upon the Motives
which induced Thomas Paine to write that
little Book called the Age of Reason - 94
CHAP. XXX.
The Author sails for the Coast of Africa :
Manner of purchasing Negro Slaves - - 96
CONTENTS. 247
CHAP. XXXI.
Treatment of the Slaves on board the Ship 101
CHAP. XXXil.
The Author taken Captive by the Algerines 106
CHAP. XXXIII.
The Author is carried into Algiers ; Is brought
before the Dey : Description of his person,
Court, and Guards : Manner of selecting
the tenth Prisoner 112
CHAP. XXXIV.
The Slave Market 117
CHAP. XXXV.
The Author dreameth whilst awake - 120
CHAP. XXXVI.
Account of my Master AbdelMelic : Descrip
tion of his House, Wife, Country-House,
and severe Treatment of his Slaves - * 123
CHAP. XXXVII.
The Author is encountered by a Renegade ;
24o CONTENTS.
Struggles between Faith, the World, the
Flesh and the Devil - 1*8
CHAP. XXXVIII.
The Author is carried to the sacred College
of the Mussulman Priest : The Mortifica
tions and Austerities of the Mahometan
Recluse. The Mussulman Mode of Pros
elyting 131
CHAP. XXXIX.
The Author confereth with a Mollah or Ma
hometan Priest : Defendeth the Verity of
the Christian Creed, and resigns his Body
to Slavery, to preserve the Freedom of
his Mind - 135
CHAP. XL.
The Language of the Algerines - - - - 142
CHAP. XLI.
The Author plans an Escape 144
CHAP. XLII.
The Author present at a public Spectacle - 1 47
CONTENTS.
CHAP. XLIII.
-The Author feels that he is indeed a Slave - 149
CHAP/ XLIV.
The Infirmary 150
CHAP. XLV.
The Author s Practice as a Surgeon and Phy
sician in the City of Algiers - - - - 153
CHAP. XLVI.
Visits a sick Lady 156
\
CHAP. XLVII.
Sketch of the History of the Algerines v - 160
CHAP. XLVIII.
Description of the City of Algiers - - 171
CHAP. XL1X.
The government of the Algerines - - - J73
CHAP. L.
flevenue - lt6
> CONTENTS.
CHAP. LL
The Dey s Forces 173
CHAP. LII.
Notices of the Habits, Customs, &c. of the
Algerines 179
CHAP. LIII.
Marriages and Funerals 181
CHAP. LIV.
The Religion of the AJgerines : Life of the
. Prophet Mahomet - - - - - 184
CHAP. LV,
The Sects of Omar and Ali - - - * - 190
CHAP. LVI.
The Faith of the Algerines ------ 192
CHAP. LVII.
Why do not the Powers in Europe suppress
the Algerine Depredations ? is a Question
frequently asked in the United States - - 194
CONTENTS. 251
CHAP. LV11L
An Algerine Law-Suit 198
CHAP. LIX.
A Mahometan Sermon - - 202
CHAP. LX.
Of the Jews --------- 205
CHAP. LXI.
|
The Arrival of other American Captives - 208
v CHAP. LXII.
The Author commences Acquaintance with
Adonah Ben Benjamin, a Jew- - - - 211
CHAP. LXIIL
The Author, by Permission of his Master,
travels to Medina, the Burial-place of the
Prophet Mahomet - - - - - - - 219
CHAP. LXIV,
The Author is blessed with the Sight and
Touch of a most holy Mahometan Saint - 226
f252 CONTENTS-
CHAP. LXV.
The Author visits the City of Medina : B<**
scription of the Prophet s Tomb, and prin
cipal Mosque - - - - - - - - 228
CHAP. LXVI.
The Author visits Mecca : Description of
the Al Kaaba, or House of God - - - 30
CHAP. LXV1I.
The Author returns to Scandaroon : Finds
Adonah s Son sick : His Contrition : Is
restored to Health 232
CHAP. LXVIII.
The Gratitude of a Jew 233
CHAP. LXIX,
Conclusion ----*.- , - - . 23S
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