Part 36

“The chiefs of the Mamelukes, with their adherents, being assembled, by invitation from the Pacha of Egypt, within the citadel of Cairo, after a time, according to eastern custom, coffee was brought, and, last of all, the pipes; but at the moment when these were presented, as if from etiquette, or to leave his guests more at their case, Mahomet Ali rose and withdrew, and, sending privately for the captain of his guard, gave orders that the gates of the citadel should be closed; adding, that as soon as Siam Bey and his two associates should come out for the purpose of mounting, they should be fired upon till they dropped, and that at the same signal the troops posted throughout the fortress should take aim at, every Mameluke within their reach, while a corresponding order was sent down at the same time to those in the town, and to such even as were encamped without, round the foot of the fortress, to pursue the work of extermination on all stragglers that they should find, so that not one of the proscribed body might escape. Siam Bey, and his two brothers in command, finding that the Pacha did not return to them, and being informed by the attendants that he was gone into his harem (an answer that precluded all farther inquiry), judged it time to take their departure. But no sooner did they make their appearance without, and were mounting their horses, than they were suddenly fired upon from every quarter, and all became at once a scene of confusion, and dismay, and horror, similar volleys being directed at all the rest, who were collected round, and preparing to return with them, so that the victims dropped by hundreds. Siam himself had time to gain his saddle, and even to penetrate to one of the gates of the citadel; but all to no purpose, for he found it closed like the rest, and fell there pierced with innumerable bullets. Another chief, Amim Bey, who was the brother to Elfi, urged the noble animal which he rode to an act of greater desperation, for he spurred him till he made him clamber upon the rampart; and preferring rather to be dashed to pieces than to be slaughtered in cold blood, drove him to leap down the precipice, a height that has been estimated at from thirty to forty feet, or even more; yet fortune so favoured him, that though the horse was killed in the fall, the rider escaped. An Albanian camp was below, and an officer’s tent very near the spot on which he alighted. Instead of shunning it, he went in, and throwing himself on the rites of hospitality, implored that no advantage might be taken of him; which was not only granted, but the officer offered him protection, even at his own peril, and kept him concealed so long as the popular fury and the excesses of the soldiery continued. Of the rest of that devoted number, thus shut up and surrounded, not one went out alive; and even of those who had quietly remained in the town, but very few found means to elude the activity and greedy search that was made after them--a high price being set upon every Mameluke’s head that should be brought. All Cairo was filled with wailing and lamentations; and, in truth, the confusion and horrors of that day are indescribable; for not the Mamelukes alone, but others also, in many instances wholly unconnected with them, either from mistake, or from malice, or for plunder, were indiscriminately seized on and put to death; so that great as the number was that perished of that ill-fated body, it yet did not comprehend the total of the victims. The strange fact of the leap and escape of Amim Bey, and of his asylum in the officer’s tent, reached at last the Pacha’s ears, who sent instantly to demand him; and when the generous Albanian found that it would be impossible any longer to shelter or screen his fugitive, he gave him a horse, and recommended him to fly with all speed into Asia, where, in the palace of Suleyman Pacha at Acre, he found safety.”

SLAVE TRADE.--The following is a good description of this horrible trade now nearly at an end:--

“On our return from Brazil, we fell in with a slave-ship. She had taken in, on the coast of Africa, 336 males and 226 females, making in all 562, and had been out seventeen days, during which she had thrown overboard 55. The slaves were all enclosed under grated hatchways, between decks. The space was so low, that they sat between each other’s legs, and stowed so close together, that there was no possibility of their lying down, or at all changing their position, by night or day. As they belonged to, and were shipped on account of different individuals, they were all branded, like sheep, with the owners’ marks, of different forms. These were impressed under their breasts, or on their arms, and, as the mate informed me, with perfect indifference, “queimados pelo ferro quento--burnt with the red-hot iron.” Over the hatchway stood a ferocious-looking fellow, with a scourge of many twisted thongs in his hand, who was the slave-driver of the ship; and whenever he heard the slightest noise below, he shook it over them, and seemed eager to exercise it. As soon as the poor creatures saw us looking down at them, their dark and melancholy visages brightened up. They perceived something of sympathy and kindness in our looks, which they had not been accustomed to, and feeling, instinctively, that we were friends, they immediately began to shout and clap their hands. One or two had picked up a few Portuguese words, and cried out, “Viva! viva!” The women were particularly excited. They all held up their arms; and when we bent down and shook hands with them, they could not contain their delight; they endeavoured to scramble upon their knees, stretching up to kiss our hands; and we understood that they knew we had come to liberate them. Some, however, hung down their heads in apparently hopeless dejection; some were greatly emaciated, and some, particularly children, seemed dying. But the circumstance which struck us most forcibly, was, how it was possible for such a number of human beings to exist, packed up and wedged together as tight as they could cram, in low cells, three feet high, the greater part of which, except that immediately under the grated hatchways, was shut out from light or air, and this when the thermometer, exposed to the open sky, was standing in the shade, on our deck, at 89 deg. The space between decks was divided into compartments, three feet three inches high; the size of one was sixteen feet by eighteen, and of the other, forty by twenty-one; into the first were crammed the women and girls; into the second, the men and boys: 226 fellow-creatures were thus thrust into one space 288 feet square, and 336 into another space 800 feet square, giving to the whole an average of twenty-three inches, and to each of the women not more than thirteen inches, though many of them were pregnant. We also found manacles and fetters of different kinds; but it appeared that they had all been taken off before we boarded. The heat of these horrid places was so great, and the odour so offensive, that it was quite impossible to enter them, even had there been room. They were measured, as above, when the slaves had left them. The officers insisted that the poor suffering creatures should be admitted on deck, to get air and water. This was opposed by the mate of the slaver, who, from a feeling that they deserved it, declared they would murder them all. The officers, however, persisted, and the poor beings were all turned up together. It is impossible to conceive the effect of this eruption--507 fellow-creatures, of all ages and sexes, some children, some adults, some old men and women, all in a state of total nudity, scrambling out together to taste the luxury of a little fresh air and water. They came swarming up, like bees from the aperture of a hive, till the whole deck was crowded to suffocation, from stem to stern, so that it was impossible to imagine where they could all have come from, or how they could all have been stowed away. On looking into places where they had been crammed, there were found some children next the sides of the ship, in the places most remote from light and air; they were lying nearly in a torpid state, after the rest had turned out. The little creatures seemed indifferent as to life or death; and when they were carried on deck, many of them could not stand. After enjoying for a short time the unusual luxury of air, some water was brought; it was then that the extent of their sufferings was exposed in a fearful manner. They all rushed like maniacs towards it. No entreaties, or threats, or blows, could restrain them; they shrieked and struggled, and fought with one another, for a drop of this precious liquid, as if they grew rabid at the sight of it. There is nothing which slaves, in the middle passage, suffer from so much as the want of water. It is sometimes usual to take out casks filled with sea-water as ballast, and when the slaves are received on board, to start the casks and refill them with fresh. On one occasion, a ship from Bahia neglected to change the contents of the casks, and on the mid-passage found, to their horror, that they were filled with nothing but salt water. All the slaves on board perished! We could judge of the extent of their sufferings from the afflicting sight we now saw.”

SLUYS, NAVAL BATTLE OF.--In this battle Edward III gained a signal victory over the French. The English had the wind of the enemy, and the sun at their backs, and began the action, which was fierce and bloody--the English archers galling the French on their approach; 230 French ships were taken; 30,000 Frenchmen were killed, and two Admirals; English loss inconsiderable.--Fought, June 24th, 1340.

SMOLENSKO, BATTLE OF.--One of the most memorable battles fought during the Russian campaign of 1812, between the French and Russian armies. Fought, August 17th, 1812. The French were three times repulsed, but at last gained the victory, and on entering Smolensko, found it in ruins, on account of their bombardment.

SOBRAON, BATTLE OF.--_In India._--Fought, February 10th, 1846, between the British army, 35,000 strong, under Sir Hugh Gough, and the Sikh force on the Sutlej. The enemy were dislodged after a dreadful contest, and all their batteries taken; and in attempting the passage of the river by a floating bridge in their rear, the weight of the masses that crowded upon it caused it to break down, and more than 10,000 Sikhs were killed, wounded or drowned. They also lost sixty-seven cannon and some standards. The British lost 2383 men.

SOLEBAY, NAVAL BATTLE OF.--Between the fleets of England and France on the one side and the Dutch on the other; the Allies commanded by the Duke of York. The Dutch were compelled to flee, having lost three ships, but the English lost four. In this obstinate and bloody engagement the _Earl of Sandwich_ man-of-war blew up, and 1000 men were either killed or wounded. Fought, May 28th, 1672.

SOLFERINO, BATTLE OF.--This great battle, one of the most bloody ever fought, took place during the war of Italy and France against Austria. Fought, June 24th, 1859. The loss on both sides was tremendous. The Austrians mustered 250,000 men; the Allies 150,000. The number slain and wounded ranged from 30,000 to 37,000. The result of this battle was the Austrians repassed the Mincio, whilst the Allied headquarters were placed at Cavriana.

SORTIE FROM SEBASTOPOL.--The great sortie, during which the good Captain Hedley Vicars was killed, is well described in the following account:

“On the night of the 22nd of March, the enemy, about 7000 strong made a sortie from the works of the Mamelon, which the French, as already related, had so gallantly endeavoured to wrest from them. The distance between the advanced parallels of the opposing forces was not more than sixty yards; and the Russians were fully alive to the necessity of preventing, if possible, any further advance on the part of the Allies. The French and English Generals were equally aware of the importance of the position, and not less than 6000 or 7000 French soldiers were nightly marched down to the trenches; our working and covering parties numbering about 1500. Advancing stealthily in two columns, the enemy attacked the head of the French sap, and were gallantly met by a division of the 3rd Zouaves, under Chef de Bataillon Balon. Three times was the attack made, and three times repulsed, not without great loss both to assailants and defenders. Finding themselves unable to force the French lines in this direction, the enemy changed his front, and threw himself against the left of the French position; but here, too, our brave Allies were equally on the alert, and a sharp volley assured the adventurous Russians that but little success was to be hoped for in that quarter. Rapidly extending their attack, they succeeded in occupying the nearest English parallel, and thence poured a murderous fire into the French lines. General D’Autemarre, the officer in command, seeing the fierce nature of the attack, now ordered up the 4th battalion of the Chasseurs-à-Pied, who, in a vigorous bayonet charge, drove the enemy from his position.

While this was going on in the French trenches, to the right of our lines, our troops were also engaged in repelling an equally determined attack. A portion of the Russian columns advanced under cover of the darkness, and succeeded in approaching the English lines. The first intimation our men had of the threatened attack was from the advanced sentinels, who quietly fell back with the intelligence that a large body of the enemy was approaching our position. The English troops engaged that night in the trenches consisted of detachments of the 7th, 34th, 77th, 88th, 90th, and 97th regiments, under the command of Colonel Kelly, of the 34th. The advanced posts on the right nearest the French lines were composed of men from the 77th and 97th, led by Captain Vicars, who, hearing the approach of the enemy, ordered his men to keep silence. On came the Russians, and when within a few yards of the English trenches, they rushed forward and leaped into the works. They were immediately met by the brave defenders of the lines, who, hitherto motionless, now made an irresistible charge upon the advancing foe, and after a few moments of desperate hand-to-hand conflict, literally pitched them from the parapet. Captain Vicars, who led his men with distinguished courage, met his death in this vigorous repulse. Major Gordon, of the Engineers, who commanded the detachment on the right, was severely wounded. While the attention of the defenders of the trenches was thus drawn to the conflict in this direction, the enemy made another attempt to penetrate our lines farther to the left, where two mortars had been established for the defence of the trenches. Here they succeeded in gaining a footing, notwithstanding a most brilliant resistance from a few men of the 90th, who actually drove them from the battery, though they were unable effectually to oppose their advance. The 7th and 34th, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel Tylden, were now brought up to the scene of action, and gallantly met the fierce assault. After a severe contest, the Russians gave way, and were precipitated from the works. A general attack was now made upon the retreating masses, who fled utterly beaten. The French followed them so far as to be enabled to destroy some of the rifle-pits they had established on the slope of the Mamelon, which had been the means of such constant annoyance to our Allies. In this pursuit Colonel Kelly was killed. The Russian loss must have been very great. On our side, the casualties were not more than 38 killed and wounded; the French lost over 300.

On the next day an armistice, for the purpose of burying the dead, was requested by General Osten-Sacken, the Russian Commander. This was granted, and for two hours, on the 24th, the guns ceased firing, and the officers and men of the opposed armies enjoyed a brief respite from their deadly contest. There was a natural desire on each side to approach as nearly as possible the lines of the other; and the soldiers mingled freely in the open space between the Allies on the one side and entrenched sides of the Mamelon in front. Burial parties were formed and the dead and wounded of either army borne away by their comrades. Meanwhile the officers chatted and exchanged cigars, and the men passed equivocal compliments--such as their very limited acquaintance with each other’s language would permit; the Russians making kind inquiries as to when the Allies would favour them with a visit at Sebastopol; and our fellows requesting them not to trouble themselves with special preparations, as they intended to make themselves quite at home when they did come. The dead and wounded, in every variety of attitude, were a frightful spectacle, even to those inured to scenes of strife and bloodshed. At length the armistice expired, the white flags disappeared from the parapet of the Mamelon, the stragglers hastily ran to the protection of their works, and in an instant the boom of hostile cannon again thundered on the ear, and clouds of white smoke again obscured the scene of the brief truce.”

SOVEREIGNTY OF THE SEAS, THE.--“The grand truth embodied in the majestic lines--

“Let us be back’d with God, and with the seas, Which he hath given for fence impregnable, And with their helps alone defend ourselves; In them, and in ourselves, our safety lies.”

seems to have been a heartfelt conviction in the breasts of all true Englishmen, long centuries before the poet was born.

King John, whom history has generally branded as a very unworthy monarch, had some redeeming kingly qualities--not the least of which was his determined assertion of England’s sovereignty of the seas. He ordered his sea-captains to compel all foreigners to salute his flag by “striking” their own national flags, and, probably, by also lowering their topsails (as was the practice at a subsequent period), in acknowledgment of England’s maritime supremacy. If any foreign ship, even though belonging to a friendly power, refused compliance, it was to be seized, and adjudged a lawful prize. This and other facts lead to the conclusion that John only enforced an ancient claim to dominion of the seas, which had been asserted and enforced occasionally time out of mind.

Edward III, during his wonderfully long reign of fifty-one years, was a most jealous asserter of his sovereignty of the seas, over which he claimed a judicial power. Dr. Campbell says that Edward, “in his commissions to admirals and inferior offices, frequently styles himself sovereign of the English seas, asserting that he derived this title from his progenitors, and deducing from them by the grounds of his instructions, and of the authority committed to them by these delegations. His parliaments, likewise, in the preambles of their bills, take notice of this point, and that it was a thing notorious to foreign nations that the King of England, in right of his crown, was sovereign of the seas. In old “Hakluyt’s Voyages” is printed a very curious poem, called “De politia conservativa maris,” supposed to have been written in the time of Edward IV. It contains a number of separate chapters, each of which is full of most valuable and instructive information concerning the commerce of England with various countries. The unknown author, who must have been a man of very extensive information in his day, urges most strongly his countrymen to maintain inviolate the sovereignty of the seas, as the only means to preserve their prosperity and safety.

In the reign of Charles I, both the French and Dutch began to express great jealousy of the British claim to dominion of the seas, and Hugo Grotius endeavoured very learnedly to prove that Albion had no better natural right than Holland, or any other maritime nation, to such a title. Our own equally learned and eloquent Selden retorted by his celebrated treatise “Mare Clausum.” We need not quote any of his arguments, which are generally profound, and, if not always impregnable to impartial criticism, are at any rate patriotic and singularly striking and ingenious. Suffice it that the general conclusion to which he arrives is conveyed in one very impressive sentence: “That they (the English) have an hereditary, uninterrupted right to the sovereignty of their seas, conveyed to them from their earliest ancestors, in trust for their latest posterity.” Mainly with a view to enforce his claim to the sovereignty of the narrow seas, did Charles I endeavour to provide a naval force sufficient to overawe both French and Dutch, and therefore issued his writs for levying “ship-money”--a most fatal undertaking as concerned himself; for, as every reader knows, this arbitrary measure (however honourable its original motives might have been) was the beginning of that deplorable alienation between the King and his subjects which resulted in the great civil war, and eventually cost the hapless monarch both his crown and his life.

In 1635 the King, by his secretary of state, addressed a long and deeply interesting letter of instructions to his ambassador at the Hague, in order to enable the latter to explain and justify to their “High Mightinesses” his naval preparations, and their meaning and objects. We will extract a few passages illustrative of our theme: “We hold it,” saith King Charles, “a principle not to be denied, that the King of Great Britain is a monarch at land and sea, to the full extent of his dominions; and that it concerneth him as much to maintain his sovereignty in all the British seas, as within his three kingdoms; because, without that, these cannot be kept safe, nor he preserve his honour, and due respect with other nations. But, commanding the seas, he may cause his neighbours, and all countries, to stand upon their guard whensoever he thinks fit. And this cannot be doubted, that whosoever will encroach on him by sea, will do it by land also, when they see their time.... The degrees by which his Majesty’s dominion at sea hath of later years been first impeached, and then questioned, are as considerable as notorious.... But withal, considering that peace must be maintained by the arm of power, which only keeps down war by keeping up dominion; his Majesty, thus provoked, finds it necessary, for his own defence and safety, _to re-assume and keep his ancient and undoubted right in the dominion of the seas_, and suffer no other prince or state to encroach upon him, thereby assuming to themselves or their admirals any sovereign command, but to force them to perform due homage to his admirals and ships, and to pay acknowledgments as in former times they did.”