Books: Manuel Pereira
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F. C. Adams >> Manuel Pereira
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The Captain felt incensed at such treatment, and excused himself for
not calling before; yet he could not suppress a smile that stole
upon his countenance in consequence of Manuel's quaint earnestness.
"That is certainly strange fare for a human being; but the supper
seems rather a comical one. Did you drink the bucket of water,
Manuel?" inquired the Captain, retaining a sober face.
"Capitan, you know me too well for dat. I not ask 'em nozin' what he
no get, but I want my coffee for suppe'. I no eat him like zat,"
throwing the putrid meat upon the floor again.
"Hi, hi! That won't do in this jail. You're dirtying up all my
floor," said the jailer, calling a negro boy and ordering him to
carry the bull-necks, as Manuel called them, into the kitchen.
"You call him dirt, ah, Miser Jailer? Capitan, just come my room; I
shown him," said Manuel, leading the way up-stairs, and the Captain
followed. A sight at the cell was enough, while the sickly stench
forbid him to enter beyond the threshold. He promised Manuel that he
would provide for him in future, and turning about suddenly,
retreated into the lower lobby.
"Jailer, what does all this mean? Do you allow men to starve in a
land of plenty, and to suffer in a cell like that?" asked the
Captain in a peremptory tone.
"I feel for the men, but you must enter your complaints to the
sheriff-the ration of the jail is entirely in his hands."
"But have you no voice in it, by which you can alleviate their
situation?"
"Not the least! My duty is to keep every thing-every thing to
rights, as far as people are committed. You will find the sheriff in
his office, any time between this and two o'clock," said the jailer.
And the Captain left as suddenly as he came.
You will think I have written you an essay, instead of a letter
inviting you to come and see me. Accept it for its intention, and
excuse the circumstances. Your obedient servant,
CHAPTER XXI.
THE CAPTAIN'S INTERVIEW WITH MR. GRIMSHAW.
THE appearance of things at the jail was forlorn in the extreme. The
Captain knew the integrity of Manuel, and not only believed his
statement, but saw the positive proofs to confirm them. He repaired
to the sheriff's office, and inquiring for that functionary, was
pointed to Mr. Grimshaw, who sat in his large chair, with his feet
upon the table, puffing the fumes of a very fine-flavored Havana, as
unconcerned as if he was lord in sovereignty over every thing about
the city. "I am captain of the Janson, and have called to inquire
about my steward?" said the Captain.
"Ah! yes,--you have a nigger fellow in jail. Oh! by-the-by, that's
the one there was so much fuss about, isn't it?" said Mr. Grimshaw,
looking up.
"It is an imperative duty on me to seek the comfort of my officers
and crew," said the Captain. "I received a note from my steward,
this morning,--here it is, (handing him the note,) you can read it.
He requested me to call upon him at the jail, where I lost no time
in going, and found what he stated there to be too true. How is it!
From the great liberality of tone which everywhere met my ears when
I first arrived, I was led to believe that he would be made
comfortable; and that the mere confinement was the only feature of
the law that was a grievance. Now I find that to be the only
tolerable part of it. When a man has committed no crime, and is
imprisoned to satisfy a caprice of public feeling, it should be
accompanied with the most favoring attendants. To couple it with the
most disgraceful abuses, as are shown here, makes it exceedingly
repugnant. If we pay for confining these men, and for their living
while they are confined, in God's name let us get what we pay for!"
The reader will observe that Mr. Grimshaw was a man of coarse
manners and vulgar mind, with all their traces preserved on the
outer man. He looked up at the Captain with a presumptuous frown,
and then said, "Why, Mr. Captain, how you talk! But that kind o'
talk won't do here in South Carolina. That nigger o' yourn gives us
a mighty site of trouble, Captain. He doesn't seem to understand
that he must be contented in jail, and live as the other prisoners
do. He gets what the law requires, and if he gives us any further
trouble, we shall lock him up in the third story."
"You cannot expect him to be contented, when you furnish the means
of discontent. But I did not come here to argue with you, nor to ask
any thing as a favour, but as a right. My steward has been left to
suffer! Am I to pay for what he does not get? Or am I to pay you for
the pretence, and still be compelled to supply him on account of the
owners? You must excuse my feelings, for I have had enough to
provoke them!" returned the Captain.
"That business is entirely my own! He gets what the State allows,
and I provide. Your steward never wrote that note; it was dictated
by some of them miserable white prisoners. I can hear no complaints
upon such cases as them. If I were to listen to all these
nonsensical complaints, it would waste all my time. I wish the devil
had all the nigger stewards and their complaints; the jail's in a
fuss with them all the time. I can hear nothing further, sir-nothing
further!" said Grimshaw emphatically, interrupting the Captain as he
attempted to speak; at which the Captain became so deeply incensed,
that he relieved his feelings in that sort of plain English which a
Scotchman can best bestow in telling a man what he thinks of his
character.
"You must remember, sir, you are in the office of the sheriff of the
county-parish, I mean,--and I am, sir, entitled to proper respect.
Begone!--avaunt! you have no right to come here and traduce my
character in that way. You musn't take me for a parish beadle," said
Grimshaw, contorting the unmeaning features of his visage, and
letting fly a stream of tobacco juice in his excitement.
"If you have no laws to give me justice, you have my opinion of your
wrongs," returned the Captain, and taking his hat, left the office
with the intention of returning to the jail. On reflection, he
concluded to call upon Colonel S--, which he did, and finding him in
his office, stated the circumstances to him.
"These things are the fruits of imbecility; but I am sorry to say
there is no relief from them. We are a curious people, and do a
great many curious things according to law, and leave a great many
things undone that the law and lawmakers ought to do. But I will go
with you to the jail, and whatever my influence will effect is at
your service," said the Colonel, putting on his hat, and
accompanying the Captain to the jail.
Mr. Grimshaw had forestalled them, and after having given the jailer
particular instructions to lock Manuel up if he made any further
complaint, and to carry out his orders upon the peril of his
situation, met them a few steps from the outer gate, on his return.
"There, Captain!" said Grimshaw, making a sort of halt, "I have
given the jailer particular orders in regard to your grumbling
nigger!"
Neither the Captain nor Colonel S--took any notice of his remarks,
and passed on into the jail. Colonel S--interceded for the man,
explaining the circumstances which had unfortunately brought him
there, and begged the jailer's kind consideration in his behalf. The
jailer told them what his orders had been, but promised to do as far
as was in his power, and to see any thing that was sent to him
safely delivered.
After leaving the jail, Colonel S--proposed a walk, and they
proceeded along a street running at right angles with the jail,
until they came to a corner where a large brick building was in
process of erection. The location was not in what might strictly be
called "the heart of the city," nor was it in the suburbs.
Carpenters and masons, both black and white, were busily employed in
their avocations, and from the distance all seemed fair and moving
with despatch. As they approached nearer, cries and moans sounded
upon the air, and rose high above the clatter of the artisans' work.
The Captain quickened his pace, but the colonel, as if from a
consciousness of the effect, halted, and would fain have retraced
his steps. "Come!" said the Captain, "let us hasten-they are killing
somebody!" They approached the building, and entered by an open door
in the basement. The passage, or entry-way, was filled with all
sorts of building materials; and on the left, another door opened
into a long basement apartment, with loose boards laid upon the
floor-joists overhead. Here in this dark apartment was the suffering
object whose moans had attracted their attention. A large billet of
wood, about six feet long and three feet square, which had the
appearance of being used for a chopping-block, laid near. A poor
negro man, apparently advanced in years, was stripped naked and bent
over the block, in the shape of a horse-shoe, with his hands and
feet closely pinioned to stakes, driven in the ground on each side.
His feet were kept close together, and close up to the log, while he
was drawn over, tight by the hands, which were spread open. Thus,
with a rope around his neck, tied in a knot at the throat, with each
end carried to the pinion where his hands were secured, his head and
neck were drawn down to the tightest point. The very position was
enough to have killed an ordinary human being in less than six
hours. His master, a large, robust man, with a strong Irish brogue,
started at their appearance, as if alarmed at the presence of
intruders, while holding his hand in the attitude of administering
another blow. "There! you infernal nigger; steal again, will you?"
said he, frothing at the mouth with rage--with his coat off, his
shirt-sleeves rolled up, and his face, hands, arms and shirt-bosom
so bespattered with blood, that a thrill of horror ran through the
Captain. On the ground lay several pieces of hoop, broken and
covered with blood, while he held in his hand another piece, (which
he had torn from a lime-cask,) reeking with blood, presenting the
picture of a murderer bestained with the blood of his victim. But
the poor sufferer's punishment had wasted his strength,--his moans
had become so faint as to be scarcely perceptible. His posteriors
were so cut and mangled that we could compare them to nothing but a
piece of bullock's-liver, with its tenacity torn by craven dogs. His
body was in a profuse perspiration, the sweat running from his neck
and shoulders, while the blood streamed from his bruises, down his
legs, and upon some shavings on the ground. Just at this moment a
boy brought a pail of water, and set it down close by the tyrant's
feet. "Go away, boy!" said he, and the, boy left as quick as
possible. The Captain stood dismayed at the bloody picture.
"Unmerciful man!" said the colonel in a peremptory tone; "what have
you been doing here? You fiend of hell, let the man up! You own
slaves to bring disgrace upon us in this manner! Epithets of
contempt and disgust are too good for you. It is such beasts as you
who are creating a popular hatred against us, and souring the
feelings of our countrymen. Let the man up instantly; the very
position you have him in is enough to kill him, and, if I'm not
mistaken, you've killed him already."
"Indeed, he's me own property, and it's yerself won't lose a
ha'penny if he's kilt. An' I'll warrant ye he's cur't of stalin'
better than the man beyant at the wurk'o'se would be doin' if. Bad
luck to the nager, an' it's the second time he'd be doin' that same
thing," said he, as unconcernedly as if he had just been killing a
calf.
"I'll 'your own' you, you miserable wretch! Your abuse and cruel
treatment of your slaves is becoming a public thing; and if you
a'n't very careful, something will be done about it before council.
If they are your own, you must not treat them worse than dogs; they
have feeling, if you have no compassion. Be quick! release him at
once!" demanded the colonel, feeling the man's wrist and head.
The tyrant vent deliberately to work, unloosing the cords. This
provoked the colonel still more, and taking his knife from his
pocket, he severed the cords that bound his hands and feet, while as
suddenly the Captain sprang with his knife and severed those that
bound his hands and neck. "Stop, Captain, stop! take no part," said
the colonel, with a significant look.
"Gintlemen, I wish yes wouldn't interfere with my own business,"
said the master.
"Take him up, you villanous wretch! I speak to you as you deserve,
without restraint or respect," again the colonel repeated.
He called to the boy who was bringing the pail of water when they
entered. He came forward, and taking the poor fellow by the
shoulders, this beast in human form cried out, "Get up now, ye
miserable thief, ye." The poor fellow made a struggle, but as the
black man raised his head-which seemed to hang as a dead
weight-exhaustion had left him without strength, and he fell back
among the bloody shavings like a mutilated mass of lifeless flesh.
"None of your humbugging; yer worth a dozen dead niggers anyhow,"
said he, taking up the pail of water and throwing nearly half of it
over him; then passing the bucket to the black man and ordering him
to get more water and wash him down; then to get some saltpetre and
a sponge to sop his flesh.
"Well," said the colonel, "I have seen a good deal of cruelty to
slaves, but this is the most beastly I have ever beheld. If you
don't send for a doctor at once, I shall report you. That man will
die, to a moral certainty. Now, you may depend upon what I say-if
that man dies, you'll feel the consequences, and I shall watch you
closely."
"Sure I always takes care of me own niggers, an' it's himself that
won't be asked to do a stroke of work for a week, but have the same
to git well in," said the tyrant as the colonel and Captain were
leaving.
"God be merciful to us, and spare us from the savages of mankind.
That scene, with its bloody accompaniment, will haunt me through
life. Do your laws allow such things?" said the Captain, evidently
excited.
"To tell the truth, Captain," said the colonel, "our laws do not
reach them. These men own a few negroes, which, being property, they
exercise absolute control over; a negro's testimony being invalid,
gives them an unlimited power to abuse and inflict punishment;
while, if a white man attempts to report such things, the cry of
'abolitionist' is raised against him, and so many stand ready to
second the cry, that he must have a peculiar position if he does not
prejudice his own interests and safety. I am sorry it is so; but it
is too true, and while it stigmatizes the system, it works against
ourselves. The evil is in the defects of the system, but the remedy
is a problem with diverse and intricate workings, which, I own, are
beyond my comprehension to solve. The reason why I spoke to you as I
did when you cut the pinions from the man's hands, was to give you a
word of precaution. That is a bad man. Negroes would rather be sold
to a sugar plantation in Louisiana any time than be sold to him. He
soon works them down; in two years, fine, healthy fellows become
lame, infirm, and sickly under him; he never gives them a holiday,
and seldom a Sunday, and half-starves them at that. If his feelings
had been in a peculiar mood at the instant you cut that cord, and he
had not labored under the fear of my presence, he would have raised
a gang of his stamp, and with the circumstance of your being a
stranger, the only alternative for your safety would have been in
your leaving the city."
"That vagabond has beaten the poor creature so that he will die; it
can't be otherwise," said the Captain.
"Well, no; I think not, if he is well taken care of for a week or
so; but it's a chance if that brute gives him a week to get well.
When proud-flesh sets in, it is very tedious; that is the reason, so
far as the law is concerned, that the lash was abolished and the
paddle substituted--the former mangled in the manner you saw just
now, while the latter is more acute and bruises less. I have seen a
nigger taken from the paddle-frame apparently motionless and
lifeless, very little bruised, and not much blood drawn; but he
would come to and go to work in three or four days," said the
colonel as they passed along together.
We would print the name of this brute in human form, that the world
might read it, were it not for an amiable wife and interesting
family, whose feelings we respect. We heard the cause of this cruel
torture a short time after, which was simply that he had stolen a
few pounds of nails, and this fomented the demon's rage. In the
manner we have described, this ferocious creature had kept his
victim for more than two hours, beating him with the knotty hoops
taken from lime-casks. His rage would move at intervals, like gusts
of wind during a gale. Thus, while his feelings raged highest, he
would vent them upon the flesh of the poor pinioned wretch; then he
would stop, rest his arm, and pace the ground from wall to wall, and
as soon as his passion stormed, commence again and strike the blows
with all his power, at the same time keeping the black boy standing
with a bucket of water in his hand ready to pour upon the wretch
whenever signs of fainting appeared. Several times, when the copious
shower came over him, it filled his mouth, so that his cries
resounded with a gurgling, death-like noise, that made every
sensation chill to hear it. During this space of time, he inflicted
more than three hundred blows. Our information is from the man who
did his master's bidding--poured the water--and dared not say, "Good
massa, spare poor Jacob." We visited the place about a month
afterward, on a pretext of examining the basement of the building,
and saw the unmistakable evidences of civilized torture yet
remaining in the ground and upon the shavings that were scattered
around.
"Captain, you must not judge the institution of slavery by what you
saw there; that is only one of those isolated cases so injurious in
themselves, but for which the general character of the institution
should not be held answerable," said the colonel.
"A system so imperfect should be revised, lest innocent men be made
to suffer its wrongs," said the Captain.
They continued their walk through several very pretty parts of the
city, where fine flowering gardens and well-trimmed hedges were
nicely laid out; these, however, were not the habitations of the
"old families." They occupied parts of the city designated by
massive-looking old mansions, exhibiting an antiqueness and mixed
architecture, with dilapidated court-yards and weather-stained
walls, showing how steadfast was the work of decay.
The colonel pointed out the many military advantages of the city,
which would be used against Uncle Sam if he meddled with South
Carolina. He spoke of them ironically, for he was not possessed of
the secession monomania. He had been a personal friend of Mr.
Calhoun, and knew his abstractions. He knew Mr. McDuffie; Hamilton,
(the transcendant, of South Carolina fame;) Butler, of good
component parts-eloquent, but moved by fancied wrongs; Rhett,
renouncer of that vulgar name of Smith, who hated man because he
spoke, yet would not fight because he feared his God; and betwixt
them, a host of worthies who made revenge a motto; and last, but not
least, great Quattlebum, whose strength and spirit knows no bound,
and brought the champion Commander, with his enthusiastic devotion,
to lead unfaltering forlorn hopes. But he knew there was deception
in the political dealings of this circle of great names.
Returning to the market, they took a social glass at Baker's, where
the colonel took leave of the Captain; and the latter, intending to
repair to his vessel, followed the course of the market almost to
its lowest extreme. In one of the most public places of the market,
the Captain's attention was attracted by a singular object of
mechanism. It seemed so undefined in its application, that he was
reminded of the old saying among sailors when they fall in with any
indescribable thing at sea, that it was a "fidge-fadge, to pry the
sun up with in cloudy weather." It was a large pedestal about six
feet high, with a sort of platform at the base for persons to stand
upon, supplied with two heavy rings about eight inches apart. It was
surmounted by an apex, containing an iron shackle long enough for a
sloop-of-war's best bower chain, and just, beneath it was a
nicely-turned moulding. About three feet from the ground, and twelve
inches from the pedestal, were two pieces of timber one above the
other, with a space of some ten inches between them, the upper one
set about five inches nearest the pedestal, also containing two
rings, and both supported by posts in the ground. Above the whole
was a framework, with two projecting timbers supplied with rings,
and standing about fourteen inches in a diagonal direction above the
big ring in the apex of the shaft. It was altogether a curious
instrument, but it designated the civilization of the age, upon the
same principle that a certain voyager who, on landing in a distant
country, discovered traces of civilization in the decaying remains
of an old gallows.
He viewed the curious instrument for some time, and then turning to
an old ragged negro, whose head and beard were whitened with the
flour of age, said, "Well, old man, what do you call that?"
"Why, massa, him great t'ing dat-what big old massa judge send
buckra-man to get whip, so color foke laugh when 'e ketch 'im on de
back, ca' bim; an' massa wid de cock-up hat on 'e head put on big
vip jus' so," said the old negro.
It was the whipping-post, where white men, for small thefts, were
branded with ignominy and shame.
"Are you a slave, old man?" inquired the Captain.
The old man turned his head aside and pulled his ragged garments, as
if shame had stung his feelings.
"Do, good massa-old Simon know ye don'e belong here-give him piece
of 'bacca," replied the hoary-headed veteran evidently intending to
evade the question. The Captain divided his "plug" with him, and
gave him a quarter to get more, but not to buy whiskey. "Tank-e,
massa, tank-e; he gone wid ole Simon long time."
"But you haven't answered my question; I asked you if you were a
slave."
"Ah! massa, ye don'e know him how he is, ah ha! ha! I done gone now.
Massa Pringle own 'im once, but 'im so old now, nobody say I own
'im, an' ole Simon a'n't no massa what say I his fo' bacon. I don't
woff nofin' nohow now, 'cos I ole. When Simon young-great time
'go-den massa say Simon his; woff touzan' dollars; den me do eve'
ting fo' massa just so. I prime nigga den, massa; now I woff nosin',
no corn and bacon 'cept what 'im git from Suke-e. She free; good
massa make her free," said he.
"How old are you, old man?" inquired the Captain.
"Ah, Massa Stranger, ye got ole Simon da! If me know dat, den 'im
know somefin' long time ago, what buckra-man don' larn. I
con'try-born nigger, massa, but I know yonder Massa Pringle house
fo' he built 'im." Just at this moment several pieces of cannon and
other ordnance were being drawn past on long, low-wheeled drays.
"Ah, massa, ye don'e know what 'em be," said the old negro, pointing
to them. "Dem wa' Massa South Ca'lina gwan to whip de 'Nited States
wid Massa Goberna' order 'em last year, an 'e jus' come. Good masse
gwan' to fight fo' we wid 'em." The poor old man seemed to take a
great interest in the pieces of ordnance as they passed along, and
to have inherited all the pompous ideas of his master. The negroes
about Charleston have a natural inclination for military tactics,
and hundreds of ragged urchins, as well as old daddies and mammies,
may be seen following the fife and drum on parade days.
"Then I suppose you've a home anywhere, and a master nowhere, old
man?" said the Captain, shaking him by the hand, as one who had worn
out his slavery to be disowned in the winter of life.
CHAPTER XXII.
COPELAND'S RELEASE, AND MANUEL'S CLOSE CONFINEMENT.
THE Captain of the Janson, finding that no dependence was to be
placed upon the statements of the officials, after returning to his
vessel, gave orders that Tommy should be sent to the jail every day
with provisions for Manuel. The task was a desirable one for Tommy,
and every day about ten o'clock he might be seen trudging to the
jail with a haversack under his arm. There were five stewards
confined in the cell, and for some days previous to this attention
on the part of the Captain they had been reduced to the last stage
of necessity. The quantity may be considered as meagre when divided
among so many, but added to the little things brought in by Jane,
and presents from several of the crew of the Janson, they got along.
Still it was a dependence upon chance and charity, which any
casual circumstance might affect. For several days they made
themselves as contented and happy as the circumstances would admit;
and always being anxious to enjoy the privilege of their time in the
yard, they would leave their cell together, and mix with the
prisoners of their own color under the stoop.
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