Chapter 7

"I will begin with the defendant; because, indeed, gentlemen, he is the more highly favoured man; I mean, gentlemen, that Providence has blessed him with a much greater share of this world's goods; he is known to man by the solemn designation of the Rev. Samuel Thorpe; yes, gentlemen, the defendant in this action, for criminal conversation with the wife of my client, is, or very lately was, a preacher of morality; an expounder of that divine doctrine which inculcates the precept, 'Do unto others, as you would have others do unto you;' he is a gentleman, who, beholding with horror the degeneracy of the times, and believing, no doubt, it required some extraordinary exertions to recall us unto virtue, has voluntarily, for no idea of gain, or means of livelihood, publicly devoted his talents to the pulpit. Such conduct, if we had not other most opposite circumstances to disclose, would have called forth our admiration and applause; for, gentlemen, the pulpit, in the sober use of its legitimate peculiar powers, must stand acknowledged, while the world shall stand,

"The most important and effectual guard, Support and ornament of virtue's cause.

"The defendant, gentlemen, is also a rich man; he is, to say the least, in very easy circumstances; we see, in this colony, several valuable possessions of his; and we behold, at one of his houses, a store from which is retailed valuable merchandise. The defendant, gentlemen, I am instructed to say, is verging towards the decline of life; to have arrived at those years, when the hey-day of the blood might well be expected to have gone by, and that, while he preached morality, he would find no constitutional impediment to prevent his practising it. I am persuaded, gentlemen, that, if a cause of the present nature had been brought before you, in which the defendant had been a young unmarried man, you would have made some allowance for the infatuation of his youthful passions; but when, as in the present instance, we find experienced age; the well-informed man; the promulger of that divine law, which denounces everlasting punishment to the adulterer, is brought before you, charged, although a married man, with this offence, I feel I must, indeed, commit an act of injustice to you all, if I did not declare, that, in such a case, I am convinced your feeling's cannot be otherwise than aroused to visit such a criminal with your vengeance.

"My instructions suggest to me more than I will utter; yet, I must confess, that I have been struck with the sacred profession of the defendant, and the pertinacity with which it appears he committed the offence against my client, for which you are now called upon to award him the only remuneration the law allows; I cannot refrain from asserting my belief, that the defendant's feelings must have been strangely perverted; he, doubtless, made his full calculation upon his outward profession, and his inward inclinations, and, I believe, I do him no more than justice, when I put into his mouth, and suppose by him uttered in his private moments, the expression used by an arch hypocrite of former days:

"I sigh, and with a piece of scripture, Tell them God bids us do good for evil: And thus I clothe my naked villany With odds and ends stol'n forth of Holy Writ; And seem a saint, when most I play the devil.

"I regret, very much regret, gentlemen of the jury, I am thus obliged as a faithful advocate before you; but I have still another feature to disclose, and here I must declare, that it has astonished me more than I shall attempt to describe. I alluded before, gentlemen, to the circumstance of the defendant's being a married man. Yes! he has a wife living in Freetown, whom (from fear she should take a right from his substance) he has turned out upon the world! to the generosity--the kindness--of the stranger! surely we may infer that he may be left at home with more ample means to gratify his passions. He has also no children; this I am sorry for on his account; surely he would have paused before he would have offered them such an example; before he would systematically set about the seduction of a woman, surrounded even by her grand-children.

"I turn now to my client; but, indeed, I have little more to add respecting him. He is poor, because he has many claims on his industry; his wife has born him several children; and some of these children are grown up, and married, and in their turn have children; the connexion between the plaintiff and his wife has therefore been of long standing, in fact on their entrance into life they became attached to each other. The connexion was not for several years sanctioned by the rites of our religion, but it was not less a marriage; the assent of the heart was complete, and it has been sanctioned by what the parties thought binding; further ceremony could only add more publicity to the engagement. Yet after many years mutual intercourse, they resolved to give that intercourse every tie, and were consequently legally married according to the rites of the Church of England. I mention these particulars because I apprehend my learned friend will set about pulling their family history to pieces, and endeavour to shew that my client and his wife might have had some little family jars; be it so, gentlemen, let him make the endeavour: I will tell him that their jars are the pleasures of the married life; they are the tornadoes of the marriage state, which clear away the mists and fogs, that, alas, will at times intrude themselves, to make the succeeding calm more susceptible of enjoyments; I warn you I speak by experience; and my learned friend Samo, on this sacred subject, can offer nothing but theory; think, gentlemen, how dearly they must have valued each other, when after a lapse of many years--after all their little storms of life--they yet resolve to make their union indissoluble, by adding thereto the celebration of those rites of our church, which has for its maxim 'that those whom God has thus joined together no man shall put asunder.'

"Contrast this with the conduct of the defendant, his own wife an exile from his bed and board, for no cause, except the lordly will of the defendant. A woman, against whom scandal has not yet dared to whisper; still, (although she has suffered much from the violent conduct of her husband) still, I say, striking for personal attractions and accomplishments; and is avowedly of an unspotted character. Let the defendant, therefore, but attempt to pry further than he has done into the private habits of my client, as regards his wife, and I shall not hesitate still further to tear down the beautiful appearance of adopted sanctity, simplicity, and innocence of deportment, with which he has hedged himself round.

"My client had been often led to believe that all was not right between his wife and the defendant, even before the time of the criminal conversation now prosecuted for. I am aware that my learned friend may allege that:--

"Trifles light as air, Are to the jealous confirmation strong As proof of holy writ;

"But, gentlemen, can you for a moment believe that there was no art, no perseverance, no continued attention, no working on the passions before the criminal moment; but that the victim fell at once into the commission of the adulterous intercourse alleged? Human nature forbids such an idea. The female mind, always timid, would think of her ties--her husband--her children--her grand-children; and prevent her, before, at least, all her fears. I challenge the defendant to name, even in one slight instance, any thing in the conduct of my client's wife, that such a ready compliance could be expected.

"On Thursday night, the 17th of May last, between nine and ten o'clock at night, the defendant sent his lad to call Mrs. Polly Bernard to his house. You must know, gentlemen, that Mr. Samuel Thorpe then lived (and for aught I know does now) in the same street, and within a short distance of the dwelling of my client, but which was then exclusively occupied by his wife. The object of thus sending for Mrs. Bernard by the defendant, is alleged, I am informed, for the simple purpose of making his bed. It is really astonishing that this gentleman could not be content to have his bed made by some of his men servants; that he did not hire a female, considering his ample means. Now the real object for which Mrs. Bernard was thus called to the house of the defendant became soon apparent. After her ingress the light ceased to throw its shade through the casement--the windows and doors were closed upon the guilty pair. Too much cunning generally defeats its own intention: not far distant from this scene of unhallowed pleasure stood the keen eye of jealousy, watching the progress of the night in order to preserve what custom had made her consider as her own. Yes, gentlemen, Mrs. Samuel (another intimate acquaintance of the Rev. Samuel Thorpe,) some time after Mrs. Bernard had entered the house of the defendant, rushed to the house--knocked at the door and got admittance. On getting inside, the only object she sought was Mrs. Bernard. Although in the dark she called her by name--what eye so keen as that of a jealous woman: she attacked Mrs. Bernard, as Mrs. B. sat on the bed of Mr. Samuel Thorpe. Both females exerted themselves to the utmost; one to the assault, the other to repel such violence. Only conceive, gentlemen, what a fine figure for the painter and the moralist was here exhibited; at the dark hour of night, two married women fighting most lustily in the bed-chamber of the pious defendant; while he (taken by surprise) kept pacing his piazza, unable to recollect what he had best do, and trembling with fear that the indiscreet uproar would lead to his exposure. I will pass over the effects of excited passion, and merely inform you, that to identify the person so as to leave no subterfuge, Mrs. Samuel carried away as trophies of her resentment, some handkerchiefs and an ear-ring, she had taken from Mrs. Bernard.

"Well then, gentlemen of the jury, you see the defendant, detected in connection with the wife of one man, by the wife of another, whose passions he had raised to jealousy by prior intercourse--whether criminal, or not, I leave to your judgment--that is not, to-day, my duty to decide.

"Mrs. Samuel, in the excited feelings of the moment, smarting under the seeming neglect and vacillating conduct of the defendant, as regarded herself, flies from house to house, spreading the dishonour of the plaintiff; the news soon reaches the injured husband; his wife has absconded from consciousness of guilt--he seeks her out, charges her with her crime--she confesses it--and now, gentlemen, he is forced to fly to you, to redress his wounded sensibility and affection."

The Jury, having heard counsel on the other side returned a verdict for the plaintiff, damages Fifty Pounds.

The schooner Thomas arrived from England this morning after a passage of 35 days. By her we heard of the death of Mr. Canning, which caused an extraordinary sensation. A warm discussion sprang up among the Freetown politicians, as to who should form the next Ministry, each person, of course, electing a Prime Minister for himself, and making a Cabinet after his own taste.

[10] Although these men are hired under the denomination of Kroo men, they are generally Kroo, and Fish men, who inhabit the country between Sierra Leone and our settlement of Cape Coast Castle.

[11] There were only nineteen prisoners in the calendar, one of whom was a soldier, Patrick Riley, for a desperate attempt to murder a serjeant with his bayonet. The rest of the prisoners were principally Kroomcn, and other black fellows, for house-breaking, stealing, &c. &c.

[12] In these cases the principal felons remained unknown.

[13] King George was the first king of Boollam, that had been allowed to die a natural death, through fear of getting 'a palaver,' as they term it, with Sierra Leone. Previous to this, they always despatched their kings when they considered them about to expire, sacrificing two human victims, whom they buried in the same grave.

[14] Meaning that the late king loved him as a son.

[15] It is but right to state, that the above speech was read over sentence by sentence, to the person who spoke it, and that he deemed it to be almost literally reported, and seemed much astonished that it could have been taken down.

[16] The new appellation of John Macaulay Wilson.

CHAP. IV.

Auction at Sierra Leone--Timber Establishments in the River--Tombo, Bance and Tasso Islands--Explosion of a Vessel at Sea--Liberated Africans--Black Ostlers--Horses Imported--Slave Vessel--Colonial Steam Vessel--Road and Street Repairs--Continued Rains--Suggestion for preserving the Health of European Seamen--General Views of the Colony--Population--Parishes--Supply of Provisions--Description of Freetown--Curious Letter from Black Labourers--Original Settlers-- Present Inhabitants--Trade with the Interior--Strange Customs of Native Merchants--Anecdote of Sailors--Injurious Example of the Royal African Corps--Vaccination of Natives--Medical Opinion--Departure from Sierra Leone

_Monday, Sept. 24th_.--Still stronger signs of the breaking up of the rainy season, more frequent heavy showers, with thunder and lightning for the last two days. A fine morning, but squally and showery in the afternoon. There was an auction held to-day of the effects of the late Tasco Williams, Esq.; one peculiar feature of which is worth noting. The persons who had assembled were hospitably entertained with bread and cheese, and abundance of wine and spirits, with a view, no doubt, to increase the animation and excitement of the scene. Whether the bidders became extravagant in consequence, I do not know, but I think it very likely; at all events I suspect that the auctioneer was trying an experiment on the animal spirits of the company. This custom, although by no means familiar to Englishmen, is very generally practised in the north of England. It is probably a relique of ancient manners.

I left Freetown, about five in the afternoon, with Mr. McCormack to visit his timber establishment at the island of Tombo, a distance of twenty miles up the river, which we made, with a slight breeze, in about three hours. We passed two similar establishments, the one on Tasso, and the other on Bance Island, of the former of which Messrs. Babington and Macauley are the proprietors, the latter belonging to Mr. Williams. The account I received of Mr. McCormack's enterprise was full of interest.

When that gentleman first visited Tombo, he found the interior covered with a dense jungle, and the shores choked up with mangroves. There was only one solitary hut on the island near the beach, which was used as a resting place for boats trading up the river. At that time there was a slave factory in full occupation at Bance Island. It would be very difficult to compute the expense, and almost impossible for persons who are not practically acquainted with African mangroves and jungle, to estimate the exertion and perseverance which must have been necessary to bring this place to its present state of improvement. The wildness of the surface has given way before the hand of industry, and that which was some years before a wilderness of underwood, now presents an aspect of cultivation. The whole of this point is as clear as the streets of Freetown; and on a fine open situation, where the breeze plays from almost every point of the compass, an excellent stone house, with out-offices, has been erected. The site is well chosen and the building is scarcely inferior to the best houses in Freetown. The upper part is used as a private dwelling, and the lower part is appropriated to storage. A good boat-house, a saw-pit, upwards of twenty plastered huts, for the mechanics and labourers employed on the spot, and a well cut through the solid rock, from whence excellent water is obtained, complete the conveniences of the establishment.

Mr. McCormack does not fell any timber in the island; he merely uses his location here as a depôt for the wood which is brought down the rivers Rokelle and Porto Logo from the upper countries. For this trade he contracts with the natives inhabiting the lands lying near the shores of the rivers, and the wood is floated down on rafts to Tombo, where ships come to take in their cargoes. The African oak is so heavy that the natives are obliged to raft it on wood of a much lighter specific gravity. This trade is of considerable benefit both to our colonists and the native tribes. It not only promotes a friendly intercourse between them, but affords constant employment to great numbers of the latter, by which they are enabled to secure many of the comforts of civilized life, of which they must otherwise have been destitute. It has also had the happy effect of releasing them from vassalage, which formerly prevailed universally, and which was in some degree necessary as a protection against the arbitrary power of the different chiefs during the existence of the slave trade.

A statement of the annual export of timber from Tombo, since the commencement in 1816, will shew with what rapid strides the trade has increased.

In 1816 716 logs. 1817 7,087 do. 1818 1,341 do. 1819 2,251 do. 1820 6,271 do. 1821 4,454 do. 1822 1,429 do. 1823 4,593 do. 1824 10,093 do. 1825 22,206 do. 1826 24,456 do.

There is a mud bar across the river about one mile and a half below Tombo; and as the depth here is not more than 14 feet at high water, vessels ought not to load more than 13 feet before they drop below.

_Tuesday, Sept. 25th_.--Heavy rain in the night, but a fine warm day. Soon after noon I left Tombo, and visited Bance Island. The only objects of interest that presented themselves were the remains of an old slave factory, and a burial ground. The road to the latter place was by a path through a lime and orange plantation, which grew so luxuriantly that it quite obstructed our way, and we were compelled to have a black pioneer, who went before us with a sword to cut down the thorny branches. In this remote and lonely place I found the following epitaph on a tombstone, which appeared to me so curious that I caused it to be transcribed.

Here lies The Residue of The Honourable Sea Captain, GEORGE ANDREW HIORT, Born in Denmark, the 6th of September, 1746, Married January 8th, 1766, to the virtuous Lady Mary Catherine Schive, who, extremely sorrowful, with two good-natured Daughters, deplores the too early Death of this now eternally-blessed Person.

Died on the Coast of Guinea, the 15th October, 1783. His Body reposes here, waiting for a glorious Resurrection, whilst his Soul is in the hands of GOD, where no pain can reach.

In this place we discovered a tombstone of the date of 1680, but unfortunately the inscription was illegible.

We made an excursion to the island of Tasso before dinner, and returned to Bance Island where we passed the night. On approaching Tasso, we saw a large alligator, which Mr. McCormack fired at, but apparently without any effect. It is a well-known fact that the scales of these creatures will turn a bullet. They abound in the river, and are very fearless and ravenous. Some of the men belonging to the timber rafts, who incautiously trusted themselves in the water, have been on several occasions seized by the alligators and carried off, sometimes escaping with the loss of a leg or an arm; at other times, when the people on the rafts happened to sit at the sides, with their feet hanging over, the alligators have been known to seize them by their legs and drag them into the water. They have been taken of the enormous length of 18 feet.

_Wednesday, Sept. 26th_.--The night being very fine, we got up at half-past two, and left Bance Island to return to Sierra Leone, where we arrived in less than four hours, pulling the whole way, having a very fine boat belonging to Mr. McCormack, with a crew of able bodied blacks.

Mr. McCormack related to me the following circumstance which occurred to him in a vessel trading along the Gold Coast, and by which he was placed in a situation of great peril. In the middle of the night he heard a sudden cry of "Fire," and at the same moment a volume of flame issued from the fore-hatchway; in a few seconds after another burst forth from the main hatchway; so that before he had time to collect his thoughts as to what ought to be done, the whole of the middle of the vessel was in a blaze. The crew were thrown into consternation, and speedily crowded the deck in a state of confusion, bordering on frenzy. The despair of their situation was increased by a knowledge of the fact, that a great quantity of gunpowder, which had been embarked for the coast trade, was stowed below, while there was but one available boat to get off the men before the ship should be blown into the air, which they momently expected. But there was no time for reflection: each man looked to his own safety, and a rush took place, through the fire, towards the after-part of the deck, to reach the boat. The poor fellows who thus risked a passage through the flames, that now curled up fearfully, and swept the whole surface of the vessel, were dreadfully burned, and looked more like demons than men. But, at last, after much difficulty, they succeeded in lowering the boat into the sea. Those, however, who got in first, seeing that the whole crew must inevitably perish if they suffered a greater number to crowd the boat than she could with safety contain, pushed off from the ship as speedily as they could. If they had yielded to the impulse of their feelings, every soul must have perished; for, although they might have escaped from the fire, they must, of necessity, have swamped the boat. Fortunately, however, the boat got off in safety; but she had made a very short distance when the vessel blew up. Several poor wretches, seeing that their fate was not to be averted, had leaped into the sea, and were drowned; while others, who clung despairingly to the vessel, were annihilated by the force of the explosion. One poor black boy, nerved by desperation, flung himself overboard, and swam after the boat, which, with great exertion, he overtook. Through Mr. McCormack's interposition he was taken on board. The crew of the boat, so sudden was their resolution taken, had not time to provide themselves with a supply of provisions, although they were a considerable distance from the shore: they snatched up such trifling articles as happened to be at hand in the hurry of their departure, and trusted themselves to Providence for the rest. This melancholy accident was occasioned by the insubordination of some of the sailors, who forced their way through the bulk-head into the fore-hold, to get at a cask of spirits.

In the evening I accompanied Mr. Macauley in a drive to the village of Kissey, one of the settlements of liberated Africans. Its population is nearly a thousand souls, composed of the descendants of natives of Aco, who were taken from a slave vessel on the river Lagos in the Bight of Benin. The immediate neighbourhood of this village, which is about five miles from Freetown, supplies a great part of the grain and vegetables that are brought to that market. We called on the Doctor of the village, who was a black man, and we afterwards went to the chapel, where we heard a liberated African preach to his black brethren.