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TREATMENT OF SLAVES.

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trines, they would not now have been arrested by an ignominious death.

The proceedings of this trial made some noise at the time. An official account of it was published, in which the execution of so great a number of persons was justified by the precedent of George the Second, who executed fifty-four of the first men in Britain for the rebellion of 1745.

The existence of slavery in its most hideous form, in a country of absolute freedom in most respects, is one of those extraordinary anomalies for which it is impossible to account. No man was more sensible of this than Jefferson, nor more anxious that so foul a stain on the otherwise free constitutions of the United States should be wiped away. His sentiments on this subject, and on the peculiar situation of his countrymen in maintaining slavery, are thus given in a communication to one of his friends :-"What an incomprehensible machine is man! who can endure toil, famine, stripes, imprisonment, and death itself, in vindication of his own liberty, and the next moment be deaf to all those motives whose power supported him through his trial, and inflict on his fellow men a bondage, one hour of which is fraught with more misery than ages of that which he rose in rebellion to oppose. But we must await with patience the workings of an overruling Providence, and hope that that is preparing the deliverance of these our suffering brethren. When the measure of their tears shall be full,-when their groans shall have involved Heaven itself in darkness,-doubtless a God of justice

will awaken to their distress, and, by diffusing light and liberality among their oppressors, or at length, by his exterminating thunder, manifest his attention to the things of this world, and that they are not left to the guidance of a blind fatality."

During the revolutionary war, Charleston and the State of South Carolina were frequently the theatre of hostilities. The first attack of the British on Charleston in 1776 was repulsed, but in the year 1780 Sir Henry Clinton made himself master of it, and for some time afterwards, Colonel Tarleton, in the British service, carried the horrors of war throughout the state, and Lord Cornwallis sent off many of the inhabitants of the city, of whose influence he was afraid, to Saint Augustin,—but one act of severity is, most of all, even to this day remembered,-the execution of Colonel Hayne, a citizen of Charleston, of great respectability of character, and large fortune. He had served as an officer of militia during the siege of Charleston, and having no way of escaping close confinement when it fell into the hands of the British, but by signing a declaration of allegiance to the king of Great Britain, which contained a clause requiring him to support the royal government with arms, he signed it; but he expressed to the British general Paterson, his determination never to bear arms against his country, and told him that he was forced to the step of signing the declaration, merely that he might be able to join his wife and children, who were at his plantation in a distant part of the state, and

EXECUTION OF COL. HAYNE.

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in most pressing need of his presence and support, the small-pox having afflicted them.

Being afterwards threatened by the British with close confinement, in case of a refusal to take arms against his countrymen, he considered himself as released from his allegiance; and when he found the British no longer able to give that protection, which was to be the compensation of his allegiance, he accepted a military appointment in the American army. Subsequently he fell into the hands of the British, and Lord Rawdon, then commanding in South Carolina, ordered him to be executed without even the formality of a trial, for which he had applied, though most powerful intercessions were made in his favour. The British lieutenant-governor, and many of the inhabitants, prayed that he might not be executed; the ladies of Charleston sent a petition in his behalf; his wife had died of the small-pox after his release from the capitulation; and his children, accompanied by their near relations, presented themselves on their knees to Lord Rawdon, as suitors for their father's life, but all in vain. At his lordship's express command, an order for immediate execution was given. His son, a boy of thirteen, accompanied. Colonel Hayne to the place of execution. The boy told his father, in the sight of the gallows, that he felt he could not survive him, and he actually died insane shortly afterwards. Lord Rawdon's cruelty, while he commanded in South Carolina, is a theme of conversation even at the present day. In one of his letters to a commanding officer which was taken, he thus

expresses himself:-" I will give ten guineas for the head of any deserter belonging to the volunteers of Ireland, and five guineas only if he be brought alive.”

Fortunately for Lord Rawdon, afterwards Earl Moira, and Marquis of Hastings, he lived long enough to establish a character for humanity and benevolence, founded on very different principles from those which influenced his conduct in early life in South Carolina.

On one of the last days that I remained at Charleston, I made a trip to Silliman's Island, a flat sandy island in Charleston Bay, covered with palmetto trees, to which the inhabitants frequently resort in the very hot weather, as I have already noticed, and upon which stands Fort Moultrie, celebrated for its defence against the British fleet in 1776.

Colonel Huger, who so gallantly attempted to relieve La Fayette from his confinement at Olmutz, is a native of Charleston. Dr Bolman, a young Hanoverian, and he got information conveyed to La Fayette, by prevailing on the gaoler to deliver to his prisoner, open for his inspection, a book which contained pencil marks, hardly noticeable, but discovered by La Fayette on a careful perusal. They succeeded in rescuing La Fayette from his keepers, and mounting him on a fleet horse, but he mistook his way, and was quickly recaptured. Huger was rigorously confined for a long period, but at last was restored to freedom, and is now in his native country.

CHARLESTON.

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CHAPTER VI.

From Charleston to the Western side of the Creek Territory-Steamboat to Savannah and Augusta-Details of " John David Monguin" Steam-Boat-Intricacy of Passage-Situation of Savannah-Orange Trees-Turtle-Defence of Savannah by the British-Regulations respecting Free Men of Colour-Passage to Augusta-Major Sprigs, a fellow-passenger-His Post in the neighbourhood of the Sioux Indians-Streets of Augusta-Dr Ray-Recent Conflagration in the City-Globe Hotel-Altercation with Driver respecting BaggageWarrenton-Newspaper Office-Leggatt, a capital Driver-Macon -Gambling-A Sportsman-Planters' Houses - Knoxville - Mr Thomas Crowall-Rogers' Plantation, wretched Place-ColumbusGeorgian Laws respecting Slavery-Proceed to Fort Mitchell-Enter the Territory of the Creek Indians-Particulars respecting them Recent occurrence, Tuskina-State of Matters between the Cherokee Indians and the State of Georgia-Major Wager's Proclamation against the White Men remaining in the Territory of the CreeksDinner at the Hotel at Fort Mitchell-Manners of the IndiansTheir numbers generally-Their Title to their Territory-Confirmed by the Senate-General Washington's Address-Guarantee to the Cherokee Nation by Treaty recognized by the State of GeorgiaSales of Territory by the Cherokees—Their determination to Sell no more- -Treaty between Georgia and the United States-Report by the Legislature of Georgia upon the subject in 1827-Projected division of the Cherokee Country by the State of Georgia-Extraordinary Provisions of the Law passed by the Legislature of Georgia -State of the Cherokees, a civilized people-Cherokee Newspaper— Mr Jefferson's Address to the Cherokees-Mr Clay's opinion-That

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