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[VOL. I.]
AUGUSTA— PRINT 1D BY DANIEL STARNES & Co. WEST END OF BROAD-STRKF.Tt
PROPOSALS
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- i h • wttUjNmup^r
IN THE CITY OF AUGUSTA,
TO BE ENTITLED
Mirror of the 1 imcs.
tHF universal promulgation of
IB d the general didribution of know-
S' of the fir A importance .n
country where liberty har lelt traces
XJ footftep, under every government
k "'ih eoufult. the happtne.. of M«.-
" „-i r dre.” the Great I.otd Bacon
• liberty. Where ignorance re.gns there
" triumph* and dcfpotifm g<;vern». A*
1„ become, enlightened authority W.U l*
Lted & morality reftortd—Knowledge &
’ „« the bales of freedom-thc one j
• ftru a, u* in our rights,the other teaches,
ror duties; the firft Ihewj us how to con
“a f e bed potfible torrn of government,
, he |,ft requires us to obey it when condruc
t-d it is therefore advantageous every where, i
tbut in a SifMU it is ahfolutely tieceffary
that correct information lhould he widely
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tiooafly clioofe had leaders or approve wrong
mrafurei, yet they are liable to error—give
them true details and they will judge cor
rcaiy—for on plain grvundt the people *1- i
wsvsfrom j*p opinion : whenever they mis- j
take their owu intcrclts ’tis owing entirely
to want of information in the many or want
of honefly in the/aw. But eut-n/ivt po’iti
cal information is not to be acquired without
much labour, and few have leisure to dudy I
the systems, compare the opiivons and pe- !
rub the p..gcs of Locke, {Sydney, Gibbon, I
Humeaud Vattel. If an acquaintance with
the true principles of government and duties
ntT citizen could be acquired only from j
huge folios & diffufe treaties, it would he j
feltlom fought or if fought, the plough, the i
hatchet, and the law mud dsnd dill. Some ,
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fore be looked lor ; and w here is intelligence
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llave.
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notice.
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v "i N'twfoin Eeq. late of War
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c,)unts, and thole indebted are
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MA KY NEWSOM, admV
M. 3 ,
JUST RECEIVED,
Ire . ANt> POR Sale
■ 1r " Handsome 6? Convenient
I fcivark made Gigs
■ tv r ’ ,a ! cd complete,
■ ‘ ,r l uirfc oi the printers.
I ir .
H INK powder
II T «riale at t'u.svis.ce.
MIRROR OF THE TIMES.
m vmmbhmhmbbmmmhi
m -- - - -
Trent the Richmond Enquirer •
NUMBER 11.
Sir —l shall not fatigue you
by « long account of the pains
which I luffered after my im.
preffment. The (lory of every
thing would be disgusting.
Hard fare, hard watching, hard
treatment, and much puntlh
ment are traits in the life of an
imprt fled seaman which are fa
miliar to every one.
* ; I>
The ftrifct discipline, which
prevails on board of a Briiifh
| (hip of war, is almoit too great
for dcfcription. No one has a
jult idea of it, except thole whe
have seen it. It is not the lead
of its aggravations, that you are j
obliged to pay rclpecl and o
bedicnce to men, whom you
may believe to be the weakelt
and molt worthless of the whoic
crew. On land, you may to a
certain extent elcape from this
degradation. You may (lee
from the lociety of the proud &
domineering—-you may in lome
lort (hun the imputity of the
attnolpheie which they bieathe
--even aniidlt the buttle of a
camp, the chain which confines
you to your tent, is of a larger
dimension than that which at
molt eternally (übjcfts you to
| the arrogant gaze of theofbceis
of your (hip. Every petty dig
nitary of a (hip moving to his
own little sphere, coinpeils the
reverential observance of ihofe
who are below hun. It is not
enough, that you implicitly o
: bey every order which is ilfued
; tor the management of thevefl'd
—it is not enough that you
hand every rope, and execute
every command with alacrity 6c
preciiion—-but you mult be e
qually Itudtous to pay, in the
mmutelt amcle, the tribute of
let vile complailance to the molt
diltant repreleniauve of Maje
ty. In itich cales (erviliiy is as
eiiential to lubordination as o.
bcdterice itlelf.
Whole weeks elapsed before 1
could acquire even a knowledge
of the<e eiiential forms of eti
quette. My apprenttcelhip was
(if the fevcielt lort. Nothing
but hard knocks & corpoial pu.
niihment couldhaveai tail recon. ,
died me to the necelluy of Itudy.
ing the lort& quan ity of relpett
which was due to my luperiors.
i had polled iiout a lucichaui
vedel ol my country wheie c
very thing had been conducted
! on a lyltcrn of compaialive e
quality- My Captain and mate
had not thought u beneath their
dignity occalionallv to crack a
joke with the crew. I had
traversed the lame deck with
| them, without being oppref
lively conlcious of the weight
lof their prelence. I had whis
tled— I sung. My young fpi-
I rits vet voiitile and elallic,
had generally displayed them
lelves in all the energies of a
wild and unconlcious hilarity.
I had not yet felt the fotce of
that beautiful maxim of the
Poet ; that 46 The day which
yiakes man a Jlave tak.es half
his worth away.”
How very different was lhe
Icene, to which I was now
tranlported ! I was (lulled ftom
a Uatton, where a'molt every
thing wore the air of a Republic
o a tccnce wheie all things bore
'he alpett of an ablolute monar-
- “ HOLD THE MIRROR VT TO NATURE.” Sh(lktSjM<tre.
chy. Our captain was the Sub.
lime Porte of this
his officers were so mahy Pach.
as and Agas, not less anxious
to maintain their own Province >
of power and respect, than the
dignity and force of the whole
empire. Every petty midlhip. 1
man bethought Itimfelfl a little '
God. He was as proud cf his
miserable epauletre- of h|s small
bunch of gold thread perched |
upon his left Ihoukler—as it he
wore the Lama of Thibet, or
the (acted calf of the Egvp
tians. I durst never pals one of |
thele fellows on the deck. wuh. ;
out ducing off my hat as a to. 1
ken of my reverence. Let me
have been ever (o much enga
| ged in the affairs of the sh ip, ihe
bow was juII at indilpenlihle as
the duty. Altbough I had a
rope in one hand, I was obli.
ged, as I palled the perlon of hi< j
excellency, to lift the other to j
my hat. Such afcts of lervile j
complaisance were as culloma- |
rtly performed, as is a negtoe’s J
doding his hat, when in the j
company of white men. If he |
lhould unfortunately fail in this j
dtt of adoia'ion, woe he to the |
barer of the hat ! A blow from
the back of a cutlals would
loon iemind him of his iuipte-
Among thofc rites, which were
moll rigorouflv exatled from the
crew, was a refpeCl for the pri
vacy of the Cabin. No one
dared to approach or enter this
iacted temple, without calling
the vengence of the offended
diety, who dwelt within. One
day, before my mind was famili.
aried to these forms of etiquette
I had occalion to Intake to
the captain. I had luffered from
fomc wanton abule of power
on the pan of an arrogant mid
Ihipmaii, and I was dcteimined
at once to bring my complaint
before the Sultan of the fltip.
I was about to enter the ca.
bin—when the centinel, who
was, on duty, at the door atrel.
ted me. W ithout a mal, with,
out a hearing, without a (ingle
apology being demanded or re
ceived, I was ordeicd to the
boaiiwain’s cat—my jacket and
lhirt were torn off ; and a cool j
t dozen was mercilelsly inflicted j
upon my bate back ; on me, a
free citizen of the United States; !
who had been torn from the
decks of my country ; who was
confined, by cornpiilfion, on
bord of a foreign Ifiip, of whole j
culfotns 1 was ignorant, and ;
whole authority I was not bound
to obey.
1 am not prepared to deny
but that the ItriCteit lobordina- j
tion is eiiential. on board of a i
ship of war. Where the num
ber of the crew is lo much grea.. j
ter than that of the officers ;
where it is itnpoflible, as it fre.
quently is on the leas, to call
in any other force to repress
the lutbulent spirit of muti
neers ; where not only the real
force of the ship is therefore in
the crew, but the chances of
impunity are (o flrong, it is
certainly neceflary to be ex,
tremcly ligid in exacting the
ptcformance of their dunes.--.
The line between obedience 1
and relpett is too in many cases,
not ealy to be drawn* It would
be difficult to make molt lea
men perlorrn the lfritt duties of
a military (hip without infpuing
•
them with a nioie than ordi
nary awe for their luperior of
ficers. But what had thele con.
i #
fidcrations to do with me f Had
' I voluntarily eniifted in his Ma#
jefty’s lervice, from the small
1 temptations held out by hisboun.
1 tv, or his wages, or from thefu.
; petior hop«> of acquiring booty
or reputation, 1 lhould have
known how to have borne the
i hardihips of my fituaiion with
out repining. Having placed
the ctofs upon my own fhoul*
ders I lhould not have murmured
againff the prefTure which it
j imposed. But how- different my
! lot ! Mv hardihips had not an
atom of merit, from their hav
ing been of iny own seeking.
I was impressed—not enfified.
I was a Have diagged reluHantly
into the lervice. There was not
a finglc ingredient of will, un.
I det Banding, or volition, in the
i whole composition of my deffi,
S ny. If was tinpoffihie thetefore,
I hut my whole foul muff rebel
! againff every petty atl or cere
mony of authonty which weigh
) ed me down.
Had I been imprefTed into
the lervice of my country —if
luch had been its practice—l
could have borne it with more
tranquility. I might then have
j indulged the hope, that all this
coinpullion, all these hardihips,
were in some form or other cal*
culated for her benefit—But e.
ven this poor conlolation was
denied to me. 1 had been drag,
ged from a vefTel of my own
country into the service of ano
ther—of one too, that had dtL
fipaced the blood and irealure
ol iny own, in a leven years’
war. 1 could, however, have
forgiven these injuries. With
the tomahawk, I could have
buried alt iny refemments.—
But lhe would not permit me.
*
She was continually opening
the cicatrized wounds of iny
country —and they were conti*
nually bleeding a fre flu Day
after day was marked by lome
new and inloleut encroachment.
Every lea was dtiturbed
by her pieiumption and tyran
ny. There feeined to be an e
ternalflrile between the extent
|of her power the abuie of
j tt. She interdids the fair trade,
which we purlue in the colonial
produce of her, not our enemies.
She doles entire coalts againit
us, by the mete virtue of paper
blockades. She condemns our
j veflels. She impreliesour coun.
; try men—She dtags them into
bondage—-of the hardships of
j which fituaiion, 1 was able to
judge, because 1 my felt had felt
the 44 iron penetrate into my
loul.”—Surely there was noth
ing in all thele things to recon~
; cite uie to the levcnty of my del.
: ‘‘ n y«
Not a day pafTed over my
head, without (orne new indig
nity upon iny feelings. My
country was afperfed—its gov
ernment was covered with ridi
cule or execration—its glorious
icvolution was insulted with the
name of rebellion. 1 was Inter,
ed at as a Kebci ! a poor Yan
kee ! an epicure iri mobiles
and pork! a miserable dealer
' in cod fifh and herring ! It was
in v*in that I attempted to re,
but thele contumelious cxprel
lion* —it was in vain that I
vnihed to retort upon them,
the indignant contempt, which
1
MONDAY, August 28, 1809.
I felt for the iniquities of thet r
own government. If I bu l
raised a whiiper against his croft
sacred Majelty, George the 3d,
or his wife, 01 any of his chil
dren, or his jack aifts or any
thing that was his—the boat,
swain's feeptre of authority was
railed upon my back. It was
treason -rebellion- mutiny, for
which I delerved no other pun
iihment than to be tied up at
the yard arm. What could I
- do ? Submit.
The greatest of all my cal
amities was to be made a reluc
tant inlirutnent iri the hands of
these m-gk f° r robbing tic Infuk
ing my own countrymen. Two
of .he molt horrible aspefts, in
which the imprcilment of Ame
ricans prelcnt itlclf, are, when
these very men are called upon
to aid in the infliction of Bri.
tilh injultice upon their own ciu
izens, and to take a part in the
wars of Great Britain against
her enemy —wars, in which we
have no interelt, and an enetny,
who is our friend.--It is indeed
iinpoilible to conceive a worie
fituatton—-when the arm of the
father may be lifted against that
of the lon.—But there has been
no war, no calamity of this
lort. It may however easily
occur. Cales of the lormer
delcnption frequently fell under
my own obler va.ion. Yes, fir,
I my led have been one of a
prels gang lor the imprcllmcnt
of Aineiican Citizens--Cer*
tainly no delciiption of mine
could dojufltcc to the 1c feelings
which ihould agitate the bofum
of an American Seamen, on
such an occaliun.
I mylclf have been compel
led to aid in the capture of my
country's veflcfs, lor daring to
carry on their accultomcd and
lawiul trace, in Iptte of the pro.
hibmons of artificial blockades.
Velieis, that had been enga
ged in a lair and neatral com
merce laaen with lugar and cof
fee of Hie growin ot the enemy
of Great Britain, but belonging
to American citizens—-f, aVe
been taken ujidcr uiy eyes and
with my co-operation. If i
dared to whilpet a woid in their
behall, I was told; •« t h a t j t
was all light; that the United
btates hau no right to carry on
a tiade in a tune of war, which
u doled in a time of .peace •
and that this was but calculated
to relieve their enemy from the
pieflure of the war upon them ”
Did thele men, however ( or
gel that this very branch 0 f
uade had been expre„| y ad^
muted by the British govern
mem itlctf in the v- ar 6 ”
Iroin Loid Hawkclbu to Mr* '
K...g ? Did they
*' “* u war ‘P en ‘ us lome new
branches o. uade, k ~s o -
ome old one.: so /
Ilance, how, a „ me of
cimld we lend o Ur prciuct t( J
the biench Welt I n<J ,e., which
we may ulually f end in French
vcfleli, duung . p e , ce . unUfs
i cy weic conveyed in our own
vellel.: becaule , „ 1I)e of
war, trench vellel, ar e forced
10 Cilappear from our pons,
and why would we fend ihilher
ihc quantity ol produce usual
ly lent in a time of peace, un.
icls wc were », liberty to ex- /
port to the continent all that
part ot ihe lugar coffee, 6cq.
w Inch is over and a»ovc our
[No. 46.]