Manuel Pereira Or The Sovereign Rule of South Carolina Part 2

"Sure I heard the same consul, when spakin to a gintleman, say that the law was only an abuse of power, to put money into the pockets of yourself and a few like ye. And whin meself and Flin put the irons on a big n.i.g.g.e.r that the captain was endeavoring to skulk by keeping him in the forecastle of the ship, he interfered between me and me duty, and began talking his balderdash about the law. Sure, with his own way, he'd have every n.i.g.g.e.r in the city an abolitionist in three weeks. And sure, Mr. Sheriff, and ye'd think they were babies, if ye'd see himself talk to them at the jail, and send them up things, as if they were better than the other criminals, and couldn't live on the jail fare," said officer Dunn, who continued to pledge himself to the sheriff that the wharves should not be neglected, nor a hopeful English darky escape his vigilant eye.

"For my own part, I think they're better off in jail than they would be on the wharf," continued Grimshaw. "They're a worthless set, and ha'n't half the character that a majority of our slaves have; and instead of attending the captain on board, they'd be into Elliot street, spending their money, getting drunk, and a.s.sociating with our worst n.i.g.g.e.rs. And they all know so much about law, that they're always teaching our bad n.i.g.g.e.rs the beauties of their government, which makes them more unhappy than they are. Our n.i.g.g.e.rs are like a shoal of fish--when one becomes diseased, he spreads it among all the rest; and before you know where you are, they're done gone."

"They're not very profitable customers for us, Sheriff," said Dusenberry. "We have a deal of watching, and a mighty smart lot of trouble after we get them fellows; and if we get a perquisite, it never amounts to much, for I seldom knew one that had money enough to treat as we took him up. These Britishers a'n't like us; they don't pay off in port and if the fellows get any thing in jail from the consul, it's by drib-drabs, that a'n't no good, for it all goes for liquor. And them criminals make a dead haul upon a black steward, as soon as he is locked up. But if these sympathizing fools follow up their bugbears about the treatment at the jail, they'll get things so that our business won't be worth a dollar. For my own part, I'm not so much beholdin', for I've made myself comfortable within the last few years, but I want my son to succeed me in the office. But if this consul of their'n keeps up his objections, appeals, and his protests in this way, and finds such men as his honor the district-attorney to second him with his nonsense and his notions, folks of our business might as well move north of Mason and Dixon's."

"I can wake him up to a point," said Grimshaw, "that that abolition consul ha'n't learnt before; and if he'd stuck his old pet.i.tion in Charles Sumner's breeches pocket instead of sending it to our legislature, he might have saved his old-womanish ideas from the showing' up that Myzeck gave 'em. It takes Myzeck to show these blue-skin Yankees how to toe the mark when they come to South Carolina.

If South Carolina should secede, I'd say give us Myzeck and Commander to lead our war, and we'd be as sure to whip 'em as we won the Mexican war for the Federal Government. There is three things about an Englishman, Dusenberry, which you may mark for facts. He is self-conceited, and don't want to be advised;--he thinks there is no law like the law of England, and that the old union-jack is a pa.s.s-book of nations;--and he thinks everybody's bound to obey his notions of humanity and the dictates of his positive opinions. But what's worse than all, they've never seen the sovereignty of South Carolina carried out, and according to Consul Mathew's silly notions, they think we could be licked by a gun-boat.

"It's no use arguing this thing, you must keep a keen eye upon the English n.i.g.g.e.rs; and when a man pretends to dispute the right, tell him its 'contrary to law,' and to look at the statute-books; tell him it costs more to keep them than they're all worth; and if they say the law was never intended for foreign citizens, tell 'em its 'contrary to law.'

South Carolina's not bound to obey the voice of the General Government, and what does she care for the federal courts? We'll pursue a course according to the law; and any thing that is contrary to it we will take care of for the better protection of our inst.i.tutions. Now, don't let one pa.s.s, upon the peril of your office," continued Mr. Grimshaw.

"It's not a b.u.t.ton I'd care for the office," said Dunn. "Sure it's yerself be's makin' all the fees, and ourselves getting the paltry dollar; and yerself gives us as much trouble to get that as we'd be earning two dollars at magistrate Jiles' beyant. Sure! himself's liberal and doesn't be afraid to give us a division of the fees when the business is good. And sure ye make yer ten times the fees on an English n.i.g.g.e.r, and never gives us beyant the dollar," continued he, moving off in high dudgeon, and swearing a stream of oaths that made the very blood chill. There was a covert meaning about Mr. Grimshaw's language that was not at all satisfactory to Mr. Dunn's Irish; especially when he knew Mr.

Grimshaw's insincerity so well, and that, instead of being liberal, he pocketed a large amount of the fees, to the very conscientious benefit of his own dear self. The reader must remember that in Charleston, South Carolina, there is a large majority of men who care little for law, less for justice, and nothing for Christianity. Without compunction of conscience, and with an inherited pa.s.sion to set forward the all-absorbing greatness of South Carolina, these men act as a check upon the better-disposed citizens. The more lamentable part is, that forming a large portion of that species of beings known as bar-room politicians, they actually control the elections in the city; and thus we may account for the character of the inc.u.mbents of office, and for the tenacity with which those oppressive laws are adhered to.

This almost incompatible conversation between a high sheriff and two menial constables, may to many seem inconsistent with the dignity that should be observed between such functionaries. Nevertheless, all restraint is not only annihilated by consent, but so prominently is this carried out, and so well understood by that respectable cla.s.s of citizens whose interests and feelings are for maintaining a good name for the city and promoting its moral integrity, that in all our conversation with them, we never heard one speak well of those functionaries or the manner in which the police regulations of the city were carried out.

CHAPTER VI. THE JANSON IN THE OFFING.

AFTER several days' suffering for want of wafer and fatigue of labor, several of the crew were reported upon the sick-list. Manuel, who had borne his part n.o.bly and cheerfully, was among the number; and his loss was more severely felt, having done a double duty, and succeeded, as far as the means were at hand, in making everybody on board comfortable. He had attended upon those who gave up first, like a good nurse, ready at the call, whether night or day, and with a readiness that seemed pleasure to him. From the captain to the little boy Tommy, his loss was felt with regret; and the latter would often go into the forecastle where he lay, lean over him with a child-like simplicity, and smooth his forehead with his little hand. "Manuel! I wish poor Manuel was well!" he would say, and again he would lay his little hand on his head and smooth his hair. He would whisper encouragement in his ear; and having learned a smattering of Portuguese, would tell him how soon they would be in port, and what pleasant times they would have together.

On the 21st they descried land, which proved to be Stono, about twenty-five miles south of Charleston. Tommy announced the news to Manuel, which seemed to cheer him up. His sickness was evidently caused by fatigue, and his recovery depended more upon rest and nourishment than medical treatment. That night at ten o'clock the wind came strong north-west, and drove the Janson some distance to sea again; and it was not until the morning of the 23d that she made Charleston light, and succeeded in working up to the bar. Signal was made for a pilot, and soon, a very fine cutter-looking boat, "Palmetto, No. 4," was seen shooting out over the bar in the main channel. Manuel, somewhat recovered, had a few minutes before been a.s.sisted on deck, and through the captain's orders was laid upon a mattra.s.s, stretched on the starboard side of the companion-way. By his side sat little Tommy, serving him with some nourishment.

The boat was soon alongside, and the pilot, a middle-sized man, well dressed, with a frank, open countenance, rather florid and sun-stained, and a profusion of gold chain and seal dangling from his fob, came on board. After saluting the captain, he surveyed the weather-beaten condition of the craft, made several inquiries in regard to her working, and then said in a sang-froid manner, "Well! I reckon you've seen some knocking, anyhow." Then turning again and giving some orders in regard, to getting more way upon her, he viewed the laborious working at the pumps, and walking about midships on the larboard side, took a sharp survey of her waist. "Don't she leak around her topsides, Captain?" said he.

Receiving an answer in the affirmative, he gave a glance aloft, and then at the sky to windward; asked how long he had worked her in that condition, and where he took the gale. "It's a wonder she hadn't swamped ye before now. I'd a' beached her at the first point, if she'd bin mine; I'd never stand at slapping an old craft like this on. She reminds me of one o' these down-east sugar-box crafts what trade to Cuba," he continued. Then walking across the main-hatch to the starboard side, he approached the men who were pumping, and after inquiring about freeing her, suddenly caught a glimpse of Manuel, as he lay upon the mattra.s.s with his face uncovered.

"Heavens! What! have you got the yellow fever on board at this season of the year?" he inquired of the mate, who had just come aft to inquire about getting some water from the pilot-boat.

"No, we've had every thing else but the yellow fever; one might as well bin on a raft as such an infernal unlucky old tub as she is. It's the steward, sir--he's got a touch of a fever; but he'll soon be over it.

He only wants rest, poor fellow! He's bin a bully at work ever since the first gale. He'll mend before he gets to town," was the reply.

"Ah! then you've had a double dose of it. It gives a fellow bringer off them capes once in a while.--The steward's a n.i.g.g.e.r, isn't he?" inquired the pilot.

"n.i.g.g.e.r!--not he," said the mate. "He's a Portuguese mixed breed; a kind o' sun-scorched subject, like a good many of you Southerners. A n.i.g.g.e.r's mother never had him, you may bet your 'davie on that. There's as much white blood in his jacket as anybody's got, only them Portuguese are dark-lookin' fellers. He's no fool--his name's Manuel, a right clever feller, and the owners think as much of him as they do of the Skipper."

"Gammon," said the pilot to himself. "What would he think if we were to show him some specimens of our white n.i.g.g.e.rs in Charleston?" And turning, he walked past Manuel with a suspicious look, and took a position near the man at the wheel, where he remained for some time fingering the seals of his watch-chain. The Captain had gone into the cabin a few minutes before, and coming on deck again, walked toward the place where the pilot stood, and took a seat upon an old camp-stool.

"Cap," said the pilot, "ye'll have trouble with that n.i.g.g.e.r of your'n when ye git to town. If you want to save yerself and the owners a d--d site o' bother and expense, y' better keep him close when y' haul in; and ship him off to New York the first chance. I've seen into the mill, Cap, and y' better take a friend's advice."

"n.i.g.g.e.r!" said the Captain indignantly, "what do they call n.i.g.g.e.rs in Charleston? My steward's no more a n.i.g.g.e.r than you are!"

"What, sir?" returned the pilot in a perfect rage. "Do you know the insulting nature of your language? Sir, if the law did not subject me, I would leave your vessel instantly, and hold you personally responsible as soon as you landed, sir."

The Captain, unconscious of the tenacity with which the chivalrous blood of South Carolina held language that mooted a comparison of colors, considered his answer; but could see nothing offensive in it.

"You asked me a question, and I gave you a proper answer. If you consider such a man as my steward--poor fellow--a n.i.g.g.e.r, in your country, I'm glad that you are blessed with so many good men."

"We polishes our language, Captain, when we speak of n.i.g.g.e.rs in South Carolina," said the pilot. "A South Carolinian, sir, is a gentleman all over the world. It don't want nothin' further than the name of his State to insure him respect. And when foreign folks and Northerners from them abolition States bring free n.i.g.g.e.rs into South Carolina, and then go to comparing them to white folks, they better be mighty careful how they stir about. South Carolina ought to've seceded last year, when she talked about it, and sent every Yankee home to make shoe-pegs. We wouldn't bin insulted then, as we are now. I'll tell you what it is, Cap," said he, rather cooling off, "if our folks was only as s.p.u.n.ky as they were in eighteen hundred and thirty-two times, them fellers what come here to feed upon South Carolina, put the devil in the heads of the n.i.g.g.e.rs, and then go home again, would see stars and feel bullet-holes."

The Captain listened to the pilot's original South Carolina talk, or, as the pilot himself had called it, polished language, without exhibiting any signs of fear and trembling at its sublime dignity; yet, finding that the pilot had misconstrued the tenor of his answer, said, "You must have mistaken the intention of my reply, sir; and the different manner in which you appropriate its import may be attributed to a custom among yourselves, which makes language offensive that has no offensive meaning. We never carry pistols or any such playthings in my country.

We have a moral security for our lives, and never look upon death as so great an enemy that we must carry deadly weapons to defend it. In fact, pilot," he said in a joking manner, "they're rather c.u.mbersome little bits for a feller's pocket: I'd rather carry my supper and breakfast in my pocket. Now tell us, who do you call n.i.g.g.e.rs in South Carolina?"

"Why, Captain, we call all what a'n't white folks. Our folks can tell 'em right smart. They can't shirk out if it's only marked by the seventeenth generation. You can always tell 'em by the way they look--they can't look you in the face, if they are ever so white. The law snaps 'em up once in a while, and then, if they're ever so white, it makes 'em prove it. I've known several cases where the doubt was in favor of the n.i.g.g.e.r, but he couldn't prove it, and had to stand aside among the darkies. Dogs take my skin, Cap, if theren't a Jew feller in town as white as anybody, and his father's a doctor. It got whispered round that he was a n.i.g.g.e.r, and the boarders where he stayed raised a fuss about it. The n.i.g.g.e.r's father had two of them sued for slander, but they proved the n.i.g.g.e.r by a quirk of law that'd make a volume bigger than Blackstone; and instead of the old Jew getting satisfaction, the judges, as a matter of policy, granted him time to procure further proof to show that his son wasn't a n.i.g.g.e.r. It was a very well-considered insinuation of the judges, but the young-un stands about A-1 with a prime n.i.g.g.e.r-feller."

"I should like to have 'em try me, to see whether I was a n.i.g.g.e.r or a white man. It must be a funny law, 'n.i.g.g.e.r or no n.i.g.g.e.r.' If a feller's skin won't save him, what the devil will?" said the Captain.

"Why, show your mother and her generation were white, to be sure! It's easy enough done, and our judges are all very larned in such things--can tell in the twinkling of an eye," said the pilot.

"I should think the distinguishing points would be to show that their mother had nothing to do with a n.i.g.g.e.r. Do your judges make this a particular branch of jurisprudence? If they do, I'd like to know what they took for their text-books. If the intermixture is as complex as what you say, I should think some of the judges would be afraid of pa.s.sing verdict upon their own kin."

"Not a whit!" said the pilot; "they know enough for that."

"Then you admit there's a chance. It must be an amusing affair, 'pon my soul! when a nice little female has to draw aside her vail before a court of very dignified judges, for the purpose of having her pedigree examined," said the Captain.

"Oh! the devil, Cap; your getting all astray--a woman n.i.g.g.e.r never has the advantage of the law. They always go with the n.i.g.g.e.rs, ah! ha! ha!!"

"But suppose they're related to some of your big-bugs. What then? Are your authorities so wise and generous that they make allowance for these things," asked the Captain, innocently.

"Oh! poh! there you're again: you must live in Charleston a year or two, but you'll have to be careful at first that you don't fall in love with some of our bright gals, and think they're white, before you know it. It doesn't matter seven coppers who they're got by, there's no distinction among n.i.g.g.e.rs in Charleston. I'll put you through some of the bright houses when we get up, and show you some scions of our aristocracy, that are the very worst cases. It's a fact, Cap, these little shoots of the aristocracy invariably make bad n.i.g.g.e.rs. If a fellow wants a real prime, likely n.i.g.g.e.r wench, he must get the pure African blood. As they say themselves, 'Wherever Buckra-man bin, make bad n.i.g.g.e.r.'"

"Well, Pilot, I think we've had enough about mixed n.i.g.g.e.rs for the present. Tell me! do you really think they'll give me trouble with my steward? He certainly is not a black man, and a better fellow never lived," inquired the Captain earnestly.

"Nothing else, Cap," said the pilot. "It's a hard law, I tell you, and if our merchants and business men had a say in it, 'twouldn't last long; ye can't pa.s.s him off for a white man nohow, for the thing's 'contrary to law,' and pays so well that them contemptible land-sharks of officers make all the fuss about it, and never let one pa.s.s. Just take the infernal fees off, and n.o.body'd trouble themselves about the stewards.

It all goes into old Grimshaw's pocket, and he'd skin a bolt-rope for the grease, and sell the steward if he could get a chance. He has sold a much nearer relation. I'm down upon the law, you'll see, Cap, for I know it plays the d.i.c.kens with our business, and is a curse to the commerce of the port. Folks what a'n't acquainted with shipping troubles, and a shipowner's interests, think such things are very small affairs. But it's the name that affects us, and when an owner stands at every item in the disburs.e.m.e.nts, and a heavy bill for keeping his steward, and another for filling his place, or boarding-house accommodations, and then be deprived of his services, he makes a wry face, and either begins to think about another port, or making the rate of freight in proportion to the annoyance. It has an effect that we feel, but don't say much about.

I'm a secessionist, but I don't believe in running mad after politics, and letting our commercial interests suffer."

"But what if I prove my steward a'n't a colored man?" said the Captain; "they surely won't give me any trouble then. It would pain my feelings very much to see Manuel locked up in a cell for no crime; and then to be deprived of his services, is more than I can stand. If I'd known it before, I'd suffered the torments of thirst, and put for a port farther north."

"It'll cost more than it's worth," said the pilot. "Take my plain advice, Cap; never try that; our lawyers are l.u.s.ty fellows upon fees; and the feller'd rot in that old nuisance of a jail afore you'd get him out. The process is so slow and entangled, n.o.body'd know how to bring the case, and ev'ry lawyer'd have an opinion of his own. But the worst of all is that it's so unpopular, you can't get a lawyer worth seven cents to undertake it. It would be as dangerous as an attempt to extricate a martyr from the burning flames. Public opinion in Charleston is controlled by politicians; and an attempt to move in a thing so unpopular would be like a man attempting to speak, with pistols and swords pointed to his head."

"Then it's folly to ask justice in your city, is it?" asked the Captain.

"But your people are generous, a'n't they? and treat strangers with a courtesy that marks the character of every high-minded society?"

"Yes!--but society in South Carolina has nothing to do with the law; our laws are gloriously ancient. I wish, Cap, I could only open your ideas to the way our folks manage their own affairs. I'm opposed to this law that imprisons stewards, because it affects commerce, but then our other laws are tip-top. It was the law that our legislature made to stop free n.i.g.g.e.rs from coming from the abolition States to destroy the affections of our slaves. Some say, the construction given to it and applied to stewards of foreign vessels a'n't legal, and wasn't intended; but now it's controlled by popular will,--the stewards a'n't legislators, and the judges know it wouldn't be popular, and there's n.o.body dare meddle with it, for fear he may be called an abolitionist. You better take my advice, Cap: ship the n.i.g.g.e.r, and save yourself and Consul Mathew the trouble of another fuss," continued the pilot.

"That I'll never do! I've made up my mind to try it, and won't be driven out of a port because the people stand in fear of a harmless man. If they have any souls in them, they'll regard with favor a poor sailor driven into their port in distress. I've sailed nearly all over the world, and I never got among a people yet that wouldn't treat a shipwrecked sailor with humanity. Gracious G.o.d! I've known savages to be kind to poor shipwrecked sailors, and to share their food with them. I can't, pilot, imagine a civilization so degraded, nor a public so lost to common humanity, as to ill treat a man in distress. We've said enough about it for the present. I'll appeal to Mr. Grimshaw's feelings, when I get to the city; and I know, if he's a man, he'll let Manuel stay on board, if I pledge my honor that he won't leave the craft."

"Humph!--If you knew him as well as I do, you'd save your own feelings.

His sympathies don't run that way," said the pilot.

The Janson had now crossed the bar, and was fast approaching Fort Sumpter. Manuel had overheard enough of the conversation to awaken fears for his own safety. Arising from the mattra.s.s, in a manner indicating his feeble condition, he called Tommy, and walking forward, leaned over the rail near the fore-rigging, and inquired what the Captain and the pilot were talking about. Observing his fears, the little fellow endeavoured to quiet him by telling him they were talking about bad sailors.

"I think it is me they are talking about. If they sell me for slave in Charleston, I'll kill myself before a week," said he in his broken English.