Books: Manuel Pereira
F >>
F. C. Adams >> Manuel Pereira
Pages:
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 | 9 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
13 |
14 |
15 |
16 |
17 |
18 |
19
The jail is a sombre-looking building, with every mark of antiquity
standing boldly outlined upon its exterior. It is surrounded by a
high brick wall, and its windows are grated with double rows of
bars, sufficiently strong for a modern penitentiary. Altogether, its
dark, gloomy appearance strikes those who approach it, with the
thought and association of some ancient cruelty. You enter through
an iron-barred door, and on both sides of a narrow portal leading to
the right are four small cells and a filthy-looking kitchen,
resembling an old-fashioned smoke-house. These cells are the
debtors'; and as we were passing out, after visiting a friend, a
lame "molatto-fellow" with scarcely rags to cover his nakedness, and
filthy beyond description, stood at what was called the kitchen
door. "That poor dejected object," said our friend, "is the cook. He
is in for misdemeanor-one of the peculiar shades of it, for which a
nigger is honored with the jail." "It seems, then, that cooking is a
punishment in Charleston, and the negro is undergoing the penalty,"
said we. "Yes!" said our friend; "but the poor fellow has a
sovereign consolation, which few niggers in Charleston can boast
of-and none of the prisoners here have-he can get enough to eat."
The poor fellow held out his hand as we passed him, and said,
"Massa, gin poor Abe a piece o' 'bacca'?" We freely gave him all in
our possession.
On the left side, after passing the main iron door, are the jailer's
apartments. Passing through another iron door, you ascend a narrow,
crooked stairs and reach the second story; here are some eight or
nine miserable cells-some large and some small-badly ventilated, and
entirely destitute of any kind of furniture: and if they are badly
ventilated for summer, they are equally badly provided with means to
warm them in winter. In one of these rooms were nine or ten persons,
when we visited it; and such was the morbid stench escaping from it,
that we were compelled to put our handkerchiefs to our faces. This
floor is appropriated for such crimes as assault and battery;
assault and battery, with intent to kill; refractory seamen;
deserters; violating the statutes; suspicion of arson and murder;
witnesses; all sorts of crimes, varying from the debtor to the
positive murderer, burglar, and felon. We should have enumerated,
among the rest, all stewards, (colored,) whether foreign or
domestic, who are committed on that singular charge, "contrary to
law." And it should have been added, even though cast away upon our
"hospitable shores." Among all these different shades of criminals,
there must be some very bad men. And we could recount three who were
pointed out to us, as very dangerous men, yet were allowed the favor
of this floor and its associations. One was an Irish sailor, who was
sentenced to three years and nine months' imprisonment by the United
States court, for revolt and a desperate attempt to murder the
captain of a ship; the next was a German, a soldier in the United
States army, sentenced to one year and eight months' imprisonment
for killing his comrade; and the third was an English sailor, who
killed a woman-but as she happened to be of doubtful character, the
presiding judge of the sessions sentenced him to a light
imprisonment, which the Governor very condescendingly pardoned after
a few weeks.
The two former acted as attendants, or deputy jailers; with the
exception of turning the key, which privilege the jailer reserved
for himself exclusively. The principle may seem a strange one, that
places men confined upon such grave charges in a superior position
over prisoners; and may be questionable with regard to the
discipline itself.
From this floor, another iron door opened, and a winding passage led
into the third and upper story, where a third iron door opened into
a vestibule, on the right and left of which were grated doors
secured with heavy bolts and bars. These opened into narrow portals
with dark, gloomy cells on each side. In the floor of each of these
cells was a large iron ring-bolt, doubtless intended to chain
refractory prisoners to; but we were informed that such prisoners
were kept in close stone cells, in the yard, which were commonly
occupied by negroes and those condemned to capital punishment. The
ominous name of this third story was "Mount Rascal," intended, no
doubt, as significant of the class of prisoners it contained. It is
said that genius is never idle: the floor of these cells bore some
evidence of the fact in a variety of very fine specimens of carving
and flourish work, done with a knife. Among them was a well-executed
crucifix; with the Redeemer, on Calvary-an emblem of hope, showing
how the man marked the weary moments of his durance. We spoke with
many of the prisoners, and heard their different stories, some of
which were really painful. Their crimes were variously stated, from
that of murder, arson, and picking pockets, down to the felon who
had stolen a pair of shoes to cover his feet; one had stolen a pair
of pantaloons, and a little boy had stolen a few door-keys. Three
boys were undergoing their sentence for murder. A man of genteel
appearance, who had been sentenced to three years imprisonment, and
to receive two hundred and twenty lashes in the market, at different
periods, complained bitterly of the injustice of his case. Some had
been flogged in the market, and were awaiting their time to be
flogged again and discharged; and others were confined on suspicion,
and had been kept in this close durance for more than six months,
awaiting trial. We noticed that this worst of injustice, "the law's
delay," was felt worse by those confined on the suspicion of some
paltry theft, who, even were they found guilty by a jury, would not
have been subjected to more than one week imprisonment. Yet such was
the adherence to that ancient system of English criminal
jurisprudence, that it was almost impossible for the most innocent
person to get a hearing, except at the regular sessions, "which sit
seldom, and with large intervals between." There is indeed a city
court in Charleston, somewhat more modern in its jurisprudence than
the sessions. It has its city sheriff, and its city officers, and
holds its terms more frequently. Thus is Charleston doubly provided
with sheriffs and officials. Both aspire to a distinct jurisdiction
in civil and criminal cases. Prisoners seem mere shuttlecocks
between the sheriffs, with a decided advantage in favor of the
county sheriff, who is autocrat in rei over the jail; and any
criminal who has the good fortune to get a hearing before the city
judge, may consider himself under special obligation to the county
sheriff for the favor.
We noticed these cells were much cleaner than those below, yet there
was a fetid smell escaping from them. This we found arose from the
tubs being allowed to stand in the rooms, where the criminals were
closely confined, for twenty-four hours, which, with the action of
the damp, heated atmosphere of that climate, was of itself enough to
breed contagion. We spoke of the want of ventilation and the noxious
fumes that seemed almost pestilential, but they seemed to have
become habituated to it, and told us that the rooms on the south
side were lighter and more comfortable. Many of them spoke
cheerfully, and endeavored to restrain their feelings, but the
furrows upon their haggard countenances needed no tongue to utter
its tale.
Hunger was the great grievance of which they complained; and if
their stories were true--and we afterward had strong proofs that
they were--there was a wanton disregard of common humanity, and an
abuse of power the most reprehensible. The allowance per day was a
loaf of bad bread, weighing about nine ounces, and a pint of thin,
repulsive soup, so nauseous that only the most necessitated appetite
could be forced to receive it, merely to sustain animal life. This
was served in a dirty-looking tin pan, without even a spoon to serve
it. One man told us that he had subsisted on bread and water for
nearly five weeks-that he had lain down to sleep in the afternoon
and dreamed that he was devouring some wholesome nourishment to stay
the cravings of his appetite, and awoke to grieve that it was but a
dream. In this manner his appetite was doubly aggravated, yet he
could get nothing to appease its wants until the next morning. To
add to this cruelty, we found two men in close confinement, the most
emaciated and abject specimens of humanity we have ever beheld. We
asked ourselves, "Lord God! was it to be that humanity should
descend so low?" The first was a forlorn, dejected-looking creature,
with a downcast countenance, containing little of the human to mark
his features. His face was covered with hair, and so completely
matted with dirt and made fiendish by the tufts of coarse hair that
hung over his forehead, that a thrill of horror invaded our
feelings. He had no shoes on his feet; and a pair of ragged
pantaloons, and the shreds of a striped shirt without sleeves,
secured around the waist with a string, made his only clothing. In
truth, he had scarce enough on to cover his nakedness, and that so
filthy and swarming with vermin, that he kept his shoulders and
hands busily employed; while his skin was so incrusted with dirt as
to leave no trace of its original complexion. In this manner he was
kept closely confined, and was more like a wild beast who saw none
but his keepers when they came to throw him his feed. Whether he was
kept in this manner for his dark deeds or to cover the shame of
those who speculated upon his misery, we leave to the judgment of
the reader.
We asked this poor mortal what he had done to merit such a
punishment? He held his head down, and motioned his fevered lips.
"Speak out!" said we, "perhaps we can get you out." "I had no shoes,
and I took a pair of boots from the gentleman I worked with," said
he in a low, murmuring tone,
"Gracious, man!" said we, "a pair of boots! and is that all you are
here for?"
"Yes, sir! he lives on the wharf, is very wealthy, and is a good
man: 't wasn't his fault, because he tried to get me out if I'd pay
for the boots, but they wouldn't let him."
"And how long have you been thus confined?" said we.
"Better than five months-but it's because there a'n't room up
stairs. They've been promising me some clothes for a long time, but
they don't come," he continued.
"And how much longer have you to stop in this condition?"
"Well, they say 'at court sets in October; it's somethin' like two
months off; the grand jury'll visit the jail then, and maybe they'll
find a bill' against me, and I'll be tried. I dont't care if they
only don't flog me in that fish-market."
"Then you have not been tried yet? Well, may God give that man peace
to enjoy his bounty, who would consign a poor object like thee to
such cruelty!" said we.
"I was raised in Charleston-can neither read nor write-I have no
father, and my mother is crazy in the poor-house, and I work about
the city for a living, when I'm out!" said he. There was food for
reflection in this poor fellow's simple story, which we found to be
correct, as corroborated by the jailer.
"Do you get enough to eat?" we asked.
"Oh no, indeed! I could eat twice as much-that's the worst on't: 't
wouldn't be bad only for that. I git me loaf' in the mornin', and me
soup at twelve, but I don't git nothin' to eat at night, and a
feller's mighty hungry afore it's time to lay down," said he.
We looked around the room, and not seeing any thing to sleep upon,
curiosity led us to ask him where he slept.
"The jail allows us a blanket-that's mine in the corner: I spread it
at night when I wants to go to bed," he answered, quite contentedly.
We left the poor wretch, for our feelings could withstand it no
longer. The state of society that would thus reduce a human being,
needed more pity than the calloused bones reduced to such a bed. His
name was Bergen.
The other was a young Irishman, who had been dragged to jail in his
shirt, pantaloons, and hat, on suspicion of having stolen seven
dollars from a comrade. He had been in jail very near four months,
and in regard to filth and vermin was a counterpart of the other. A
death-like smell, so offensive that we stopped upon the threshold,
escaped from the room as soon as the door opened, enough to destroy
a common constitution, which his emaciated limbs bore the strongest
evidence of.
The prisoners upon the second story were allowed the privilege of
the yard during certain hours in the day, and the debtors at all
hours in the day; yet, all were subjected to the same fare. In the
yard were a number of very close cells, which, as we have said
before, were kept for negroes, refractory criminals, and those
condemned to capital punishment. These cells seemed to be held as a
terror over the criminals, and well they might, for we never
witnessed any thing more dismal for the tenement of man.
CHAPTER XIII.
HOW IT IS.
IT is our object to show the reader how many gross abuses of power
exist in Charleston, and to point him to the source. In doing this,
the task becomes a delicate one, for there are so many things we
could wish were not so, because we know there are many good men in
the community whose feelings are enlisted in the right, but their
power is not coequal; and if it were, it is checked by an opposite
influence.
The more intelligent of the lower classes look upon the subject of
politics in its proper light--they see the crashing effect the
doctrine of nullification has upon their interests; yet, though
their numbers are not few, their voice is small, and cannot sound
through the channels that make popular influence. Thus all castes of
society are governed by impracticable abstractions.
The jail belongs to the county--the municipal authorities have no
voice in it; and the State, in its legislative benevolence, has
provided thirty cents a day for the maintenance of each prisoner.
This small sum, in the State of South Carolina, where provision is
extremely high, may be considered as a paltry pittance; but more
especially so when the magnificent pretensions of South Carolina are
taken into consideration, and a comparison is made between this
meagre allowance and that of other States. Even Georgia, her sister
State, and one whose plain modesty is really worthy of her
enterprising citizens, takes a more enlightened view of a criminal's
circumstances-allows forty-four cents a day for his maintenance, and
treats him as if he was really a human being. But for this disparity
and the wanton neglect of humane feelings South Carolinians excuse
themselves upon the ground that they have no penitentiary; nor do
they believe in that system of punishment, contending that it
creates an improper competition with the honest mechanic, and gives
countenance to crime, because it attempts to improve criminals. The
common jail is made the place of confinement, while the
whipping-post and starvation supply the correctives.
The sheriff being created an absolute functionary, with unlimited
powers to control the jail in all its varied functions, without
either commissioners or jail-committee, what state of management may
be expected? The court gives no specific direction as to the
apartment or mode of confinement when sentencing a criminal;
consequently, it becomes an established fact that the legislative
confidence deposed in the sheriff is used as a medium of favors, to
be dispensed as best suits the feelings or interests of the
incumbent. Such power in the hands of an arbitrary, vindictive, or
avaricious man, affords unlimited means of abuse, and without fear
of exposure.
It may be inferred from what we have said that the jailer was relax
in his duty. This is not the case, for we have good authority that a
more kind-hearted and benevolent man never filled the office. But
his power was so restricted by those in absolute control, that his
office became a mere turnkey's duty, for which he was paid the
pittance of five hundred dollars a year or thereabouts. Thus he
discharged his duty according to the instructions of the sheriff,
who, it was well known, looked upon the jail as a means of
speculation; and in carrying out his purposes, he would give very
benevolent instructions in words, and at the same time withhold the
means of carrying them out, like the very good man who always
preached but never practised.
Now, how is it? What is the regimen of this jail-prison and how is
it provided? We will say nothing of that arduous duty which the
jailer performs for his small sum; nor the report that the sheriff's
office is worth fourteen thousand dollars a year: these things are
too well established. But the law provides thirty cents a day for
the prisoner's maintenance, which shall be received by the sheriff,
who is to procure one pound of good bread, and one pound of good
beef per day for each man. Now this provision is capable of a very
elastic construction. The poor criminal is given a loaf of bad
bread, costing about three cents, and a pound of meat, the most
unwholesome and sickly in its appearance, costing five cents.
Allowing a margin, however, and we may say the incumbent has a very
nice profit of from eighteen to twenty cents per day on each
prisoner. But, as no provision is made against the possibility of
the criminal eating his meat raw, he is very delicately forced to an
alternative which has another profitable issue for the sheriff; that
of taking a pint of diluted water, very improperly called soup. Thus
is carried out that ancient law of England which even she is now
ashamed to own. Our feelings are naturally roused against the
perpetration of such abuses upon suffering humanity. We struggle
between a wish to speak well of her whose power it is to practise
them, and an imperative duty that commands us to speak for those who
cannot speak for themselves.
These things could not exist if the public mind was properly
enlightened. It is unnecessary to spend many words in exposing such
palpable abuses, or to trace the cause of their existence and
continuance. One cause of this is the wilful blindness and silly
gasconade of some of those who lead and form public opinion. With
South Carolinians, nothing is done in South Carolina that is not
greater than ever was done in the United States-no battles were ever
fought that South Carolina did not win-no statesman was ever equal
to Mr. Calhoun-no confederacy would be equal to the Southern, with
South Carolina at its head-no political doctrines contain so much
vital element as secession, and no society in the Union is equal to
South Carolina for caste and elegance-not excepting the worthy and
learned aristocracy of Boston.
A will to do as it pleases and act as it pleases, without national
restraint, is the great drawback under which South Carolina sends
forth her groaning tale of political distress. Let her look upon her
dubious glory in its proper light-let her observe the rights of
others, and found her acts in justice!--annihilate her grasping
spirit, and she will find a power adequate to her own preservation.
She can then show to the world that she gives encouragement to the
masses, and is determined to persevere in that moderate and
forbearing policy which creates its own protection, merits
admiration abroad, instead of rebuke, and which needs no gorgeous
military display to marshal peace at the point of the bayonet.
CHAPTER XIV.
MANUEL PEREIRA COMMITTED.
IT was nearly eleven o'clock as they ascended the jail steps and
rang the bell for admittance. The jailer, a stout, rough-looking
man, opened the iron door, and as Manuel was about to step over the
stone sill, Dunn gave him a sudden push that sent him headlong upon
the floor. "Heavens! what now?" inquired the jailer with a look of
astonishment, and at the next moment Dunn raised his foot to kick
Manuel in the face.
"You infernal beast!" said the jailer, "you are more like a savage
than a man-you are drunk now, you vagabond," and jumped in between
them to save him from the effect of the blow. As he did this, the
gentleman who accompanied them from the "corner-shop," as a
protection against Dunn's cruelty, fetched Dunn a blow on the back
of the neck that made him stagger against a door, and created such
confusion as to arouse the whole jail. Turning to Manuel, he, with
the assistance of the jailer, raised him from the ground and led him
into the jail-office. "Mister jailer," said Dunn, "the prisoner is
mine until such times as you receipt the commitment, and I demand
protection from you against this man. He has committed two violent
assaults upon me, when I'd be doing me duty."
"You have violated all duty, and are more like an incarnate fiend.
You first decoy men into rum-shops, and then you plunder and abuse
them, because you think they are black and can get no redress. You
abused that man unmercifully, because you knew his evidence was not
valid against you!" said the gentleman, turning to the jailer, and
giving him the particulars of what he saw in the "corner-shop," and
what cruelties he had seen practised by Dunn on former occasions.
The jailer looked upon Manuel with commiseration, and handed him a
chair to sit down on. The poor fellow was excited and fatigued, for
he had eaten nothing that day, and been treated more like a brute
than a human being from the time, he left the ship until he arrived
at the jail. He readily accepted the kind offer, and commenced to
tell the story of his treatment.
"You need' not tell me,--I know too much of that man already. It has
long been a mystery to me why he is retained in office."--
Here Dunn interrupted. "Sure it's yer master I'd obey and not
yerself, an' I'd do what I'd plase with prisoners, and, it's his
business and not yeers. If ye had yer way, sure you'd be makin'
white men of every nigger that ye turned a key upon."
"Give me none of your insolence," said the jailer. "You have no
authority beyond my door. Your brutal treatment to prisoners has
caused me an immense deal of trouble-more than my paltry pay would
induce me to stay for. Suppose you were indicted for these outrages?
What would be the result?" asked the jailer.
"Sure it's meself could answer for the sheriff, without yer
bothering yerself. I'd not work for yer, but for him; and he's yer
master anyhow, and knows all about it. Give me the receipt, and
that's all I'd ax yer. When a nigger don't mind me, I just makes him
feel the delight of a hickory stick."
"Yes, if you had the shame of a man in you, you'd not make a beast
of yourself with liquor, and treat these poor stewards as if they
were dogs," said the jailer.
"Indeed, ye might learn a thing or two if ye was a politician like
meself, and belonged to the secession party. An' if his honor the
sheriff-for he's a dacent man-knew ye'd be preachin' in that shape,
ye wouldn't keep the jail f'nent the morning. Be letting me out, and
make much of the nigger; ye have him there."
The jailer unlocked the door and allowed him to pass out, with a
pertinent rebuke. This was but a trifling affair in Dunn's ear, for
he knew his master's feelings too well, and was backed by him in his
most intolerable proceedings. Returning to the office, he looked at
the commitment, and then again at Manuel. "This is a 'contrary to
law' case, I see, Mr. Manuel; you are a likely fellow too, to come
within that," said he.
"Yes. If I understand him right, he's a shipwrecked sailor,
belonging to a foreign vessel that was driven in here in distress,"
said the man. "It's a hard law that imprisons a colored seaman who
comes here voluntarily; but it seems beyond all manner of precedent
to imprison a shipwrecked man like this, especially when he seems so
respectable. There are no circumstances to warrant the enforcement
of such a law." Thus saying, he left the jail.
Be it said of the jailer, to his honor, so far as personal kindness
went, he did his utmost--brought him water to wash himself, and gave
him some clean clothes. After which, he was registered upon the
criminal calendar as follows:--
"March 24, 1852.--Manuel Peirire.--[Committed by] Sheriff--Sheriff.
Crime--Contrary to law."
Now the jailer had done his duty, so far as his feelings were
concerned; but, such were the stern requirements of the law, and his
functions so restricted by Mr. Grimshaw, that he dare not make
distinctions. He called Daley, one of the criminal assistants, and
ordered him to show the prisoner his room.
"Here, my boy, take yer blanket," said Daley; and throwing him a
coarse, filthy-looking blanket, told him to roll it up and follow
him. "It's on the second floor we'll put ye, among the stewards;
there's a nice lot on 'em to keep yer company, and ye'll have a
jolly time, my boy." Manuel followed through the second iron door
until he came to a large door secured with heavy bolts and bars,
which Daley began to withdraw and unlock. "Don't be takin' it amiss;
it's a right good crib, savin' the' bed, an' it's that's the worst
of it. Bad luck to old Grimshaw, an' himself thinks everybody's
bones be's as tuf as his own," said Daley, and threw open the heavy
doors, sending forth those ominous prison sounds. "All here? Ah! yer
a pretty set of lambs, as the British consul calls yees. Have ye
ever a drop to spare?" At this, three or four respectable-looking
black men came to the door and greeted Manuel. "Come, talk her out,
for th' auld man'll be on the scent." At this, one of the confined
stewards, a tall, good-looking mulatto man, ran his hand into a
large opening in the wall, and drew forth a little soda-bottle
filled with Monongahela whisky. Without giving reasonable time for
politeness, Daley seized the bottle, and putting it to his mouth,
gauged about half its contents into his homony dep“t, smacked his
lips, wiped his mouth with his cuff, and, passing the balance back,
shut and rebolted the door, after saying, "Good luck till yees, an'
I wish yees a merry time." The reader may imagine what provision the
State or the sheriff had made for the comfort of these poor men, one
of whom was imprisoned because it was "contrary to law" to be driven
into the port of Charleston in distress, and the rest, peaceable,
unoffending citizens belonging to distant States and countries, and
guilty of no crime, when we describe the room and regimen to which
they were subjected. The room was about twenty-six feet long and ten
feet wide. The brick walls were plastered and colored with some kind
of blue wash, which, however, was so nearly obliterated with dirt
and the damp of a southern climate, as to leave but little to show
what its original color was. The walls were covered with the
condensed moisture of the atmosphere, spiders hung their festooned
network overhead, and cockroaches and ants, those domesticated pests
of South Carolina, were running about the floor in swarms, and
holding all legal rights to rations in superlative contempt. Two
small apertures in the wall, about fourteen inches square, and
double-barred with heavy flat iron, served to admit light and air.
The reader may thus judge of its gloomy appearance, and what a
miserable unhealthy cell it must have been in which to place men
just arrived from sea. There was not the first vestige of furniture
in the room, not; even a bench to sit upon, for the State, with its
gracious hospitality, forgot that men in jail ever sit down; but it
was in keeping with all other things that the State left to the
control of its officials.
Pages:
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 | 9 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
13 |
14 |
15 |
16 |
17 |
18 |
19