Читать книгу Samboe; or, The African Boy - Mary Ann Hedge - Страница 4

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“O Slavery——

Profuse of woes, and pregnant with distress,

Eternal horrors in thy presence reign;

Pale meagre famine leads thy horrid train;

To each dire load subjection adds more weight,

And pain is doubled in the captive’s fate:

O’er nature’s smiling face thou spreadst a gloom,

And to the grave dost every pleasure doom.”

Years had elapsed since Irving had indited the letters from which we have extracted, and every passing one had seen an increasing tendency to suffer humanity to yield to interest: what had been the practice of official duty, became the actuating principle, and gold, the

”Insidious bane that makes destruction smooth,

The foe to virtue, liberty, and truth,”

absorbed the better feelings, which had at first recoiled from the scenes of cruelty and oppression he had witnessed; and he could calmly execute the one and the other, and be at no loss to justify (at least to himself) the acts, and even reason upon the trade of human beings; if not, indeed, upon its humanity and justice, at least upon its expedience; forgetful of that great and comprehensive, but most simple maxim: “Do unto others as ye would they should do unto you.”

The order he had received from his employers, arrived at an opportune period; for he had, on that very day, been invited to attend the ceremony of the coronation of the king of Whidáh, to take place in a few days, at Sabi. With the true spirit of gain, he calculated that this event might, by a little judicious policy, be rendered, not only subservient to his present pressing demand for slaves, but also might open greater facilities than he had hitherto possessed, of obtaining a choice. Interest, therefore, united with curiosity, in his determination of attending the ceremony; a few preliminaries of which we will name, ere we accompany him to it.

On the demise of a king of Whidáh, the crown descends to his eldest son, unless the grandees have any substantial reasons to reject his claim; in which case the youngest son is appointed, provided he was born after the accession of the father. It is a singular custom, that, as soon as the eldest son of a king of Whidáh is born, he is removed from the palace and court, and placed under the care of a person in private, residing remote from the latter. With this person he remains, in profound ignorance of his birth, and of the high responsibilities for which he is designed. His protector is acquainted with the secret of his royal birth, but would incur the penalty of death were he to divulge it. By this custom it not unfrequently occurs, that when a prince is called to the throne, he may, at the moment, be employed in the most common and menial offices; and it is with difficulty he can be persuaded to believe those who inform him of his elevated rank, or in what manner to receive their servile homage; as it is customary for the subjects to approach the sovereign in the most humiliating form, advancing towards them in a creeping manner, to a certain distance, till the monarch, clapping his hands softly, indicates his permission for them to speak, which they then do, in a low tone, with their heads nearly to the ground. They retire, with the same slavish ceremonials, from the royal presence.

As soon as the old king is dead, his successor is brought to the palace; but the period of his coronation is uncertain, resting with the grandees, with whom it becomes a political manœuvre to keep the government, as long as possible, in their own hands; and they accordingly fix the period of the ceremony as best suits their respective interests. It is generally put off some months, and, sometimes, even years, but cannot be delayed beyond seven years. During this interval, the government is rather in the power of the grandees than the king; for they execute all the public acts and business, without consulting him. In every other respect he is treated as a prince, with only one restriction, viz. that, previously to his coronation, he cannot quit the palace.

It may readily be imagined by our young readers, that, from the obscure state in which the young monarch is brought up, he has little notion of those qualities which are necessary to govern a people. On the contrary, the sudden transition from this obscurity, to the paths of ease and pleasure, and every facility of self-gratification, unfortunately gives a peculiar relish for those pursuits and pleasures, with which, had he become guardedly and progressively familiar, in all probability he would have been satiated. But this not being the case, the king of Whidáh lives almost in a state of indolence; seldom going abroad, and only occasionally attending his grandees when they are assembled in the hall of audience, for the administration of justice: all the rest of his time is spent in the recesses of his seraglio, attended by his numerous wives, who are divided into three classes. When the period of the coronation has been fixed by the grandees, they give intimation of it to the king, who assembles them in the palace; and the council having deliberated on the measures to be used in executing the ceremony, notice of it is given to the public by a discharge of cannon, and the glad news is soon circulated throughout the kingdom.

The following morning, the grand sacrificer goes to the king, demanding, in the name of the great serpent, (their deity!) the offerings due on such a solemn and joyful occasion. These offerings consist of an ox, a horse, a sheep, and a fowl, which are sacrificed in the palace, and afterwards taken to the market-place. In the centre of this, the grand sacrificer erects a pole, nine or ten feet high, with a piece of linen attached to it like a flag, and around it are placed the victims, with small loaves of millet, rubbed over with palm-oil. After a few trifling ceremonies the company retire, leaving the victims exposed to the birds of prey; no person being permitted to touch them, upon pain of death. Arrived at the palace, about twenty of the king’s wives walk in procession to the place of sacrifice, the eldest, or chief, (Note G.) bearing a figure formed of earth, representing a child in a sitting posture: this she places at a short distance from the victims. These women are attended by a party of fusileers, and the king’s flutes and drums, the people prostrating themselves as they pass, and expressing their joy by the loudest acclamations. When these ceremonies are over, the grandees repair to the palace, dressed in their richest apparel, and attended by their numerous slaves, of whom they are very proud, adorning them with a profusion of trinkets, and ornaments of silver and gold. The king is not visible on this occasion; but they enter, and prostrate themselves before the throne, and again retire. This part of the ceremony continues fifteen days, during which the women make the palace re-echo with their acclamations; and the public joy is testified by the firing of cannon, and the almost continual display of rockets, from all parts of the capital.

It was during the interval of these rejoicings, that Irving, with his attendants, arrived at Sabi, and was appointed to take up his quarters with a grandee high in favour with the new king. He had taken care to provide himself with an ample assortment of trinkets, spirits, cutlery, and other European produce he knew to be tempting to his inviter and his royal master, with whom he proposed to trade, immediately after the ceremony was concluded.

Soon after his arrival, the grandee with whom he resided was summoned, (as was customary,) as the one deputed to go to the neighbouring kingdom of Ardrah, with a magnificent retinue, in order to request one of the nobles of that kingdom (in whose family the right had existed time immemorial) to proceed to Sabi, to crown the king; and Irving, desirous of seeing the whole of the ceremonial, obtained ready permission to accompany the embassy. The greatest respect is paid, by all ranks, to this officiating nobleman; and all the expences of his journey are defrayed by the grandees of Whidáh.

When arrived at the last village next the capital, this nobleman and his retinue suspended their progress, remaining there stationary three or four days; during which time he received visits from the principal people of the kingdom, with whom it is customary to make him valuable presents, and contribute to his amusement by a variety of entertainments; the king supplying him with a great quantity of provision, carried twice a day in great pomp, by his wives, preceded by a guard of fusileers and a band of music.

Among these ladies, Irving saw many whom, as a slave-merchant, he would have been happy to have obtained at a high price. Four days being elapsed, the grandees, with their usual train, and a great concourse of people, repaired to the village, to conduct the Ardrah nobleman, in great state, to Sabi; where he was received by a salute of the king’s guns, and the loud and continued acclamations of the multitude. He was then conducted to the apartments prepared for him near the palace, where he was splendidly entertained by the grandees, and received visits from the principal officers of the court. He continued here five days, but, at the close of the third, he entered the palace with the chief of his train, without taking off any part of his dress or ornaments. He remained standing, also, when he spoke to the king, while all others prostrated themselves, as usual.

On the evening of the fifth day, nine guns were fired, at the palace, to announce to the people that the king would be crowned on the following day, and that he would show himself in public, seated on his throne, in the court of the palace, the gates of which would be left open for the admission of all ranks of people. It was with the utmost astonishment that Irving beheld the immense population assembled in the streets of Sabi, on this occasion; every avenue towards the palace being completely crowded by the natives, to obtain a sight of their new monarch.

On the evening of the following day, the king came forth from his seraglio, attended by forty of his favourite wives, dressed in the most sumptuous manner; being rather loaded than ornamented, with gold necklaces, laces, pendants, bracelets, foot-chains of gold and silver, and the richest gems. The king, who was a good-looking, but, apparently, very indolent young man, was magnificently dressed, wearing a gilt helmet, decorated with red and white feathers. He was attended by his guards, and proceeded from his seraglio to the throne, which was placed in an angle of the court, to the east of the palace, and styled the court of the coronation.

The throne itself was something like a large armed chair, finely gilt, and elevated a little above the ground; the negroes choosing very low seats, not more than ten inches high, and six in diameter, and not unfrequently in the shape of an hour-glass. The most valuable and curious part of the throne we are now describing, was the seat, consisting of an entire lump of gold; not cast or formed by art, but a product of nature alone, weighing thirty pounds. It had been bored and fitted as a seat to the royal throne: upon this was a velvet cushion, richly laced and fringed with gold, and a foot-cushion to correspond. On the left were ranged the forty wives of the monarch, and on the right the principal grandees; and in a line with them, the Europeans from the English factories; therefore, Irving had a complete view of every part of the ceremonial. One of the grandees held in his hand an umbrella: this, however, was more for ornament than use, as the ceremony took place at night. It was formed of the richest cloth of gold, the lining embroidered with the same precious material, and the fringes and tassels the same. On the top of it was the figure of a cock, as large as the life. The pole of this pavilion, or umbrella, was six feet long, richly embossed and gilded. Another grandee kneeled before the king, constantly fanning him during the ceremony. Opposite to the monarch stood two of his dwarfs, who represented to him the good qualities of his predecessor; extolling his justice, liberality, and clemency, and exhorting the king not only to imitate, but to excel him; concluding their harangue with wishes for the king’s happiness, and that his reign might be long and prosperous.

These ceremonies concluded, the grandee of Ardrah was summoned to attend. When arrived at the outer gate of the palace, the cannon were discharged, and the band began to play. He entered the court, surrounded with his attendants, and was guarded by them to a certain distance. He then advanced, singly, to the throne, saluting the king by courteously bowing the head, but not prostrating himself. He then addressed a short speech to the king, relative to the ceremony he was called to perform; and removing the helmet from his head, turned to the people, holding it in his hands. A signal was then made, and the music instantly ceased. A profound and most impressive silence ensued. The grandee of Ardrah, then, with a loud and distinct voice, repeated, three times, these words to the assembled multitude: “Here is your king: be loyal to him, and your prayers shall be heard by the king of Ardrah, my master.” After this he replaced the helmet on the head of the king, made a low reverence, and retired. The cannon and small-arms were instantly fired, the music again struck up, and the acclamations were renewed. The grandee of Ardrah, in the meantime, was reconducted, in great state, to his apartments; after which, the new-crowned king, attended by his wives, his guards, and the Europeans, returned to the seraglio, where the latter made their compliments to the king as he entered the gate; and, on the following day, the monarch sent, as usual, a rich present to the Ardrah grandee, previously to his return home, which he must immediately do, the law not permitting him to remain three days longer in the kingdom.

The rejoicings which followed the coronation lasted fifteen days, and the whole was closed with a grand procession to the temple of the great serpent. The grandee with whom Irving resided during the period of these ceremonies, was one of the principal officers of the palace, and possessed a disposition peculiarly open to the enticement of spirituous liquors, as well as dreadfully acted upon by the pernicious stimulus they gave to his passions. He also had such a propensity for their use, that Irving easily found, that, by supplying him well, he might render him subservient to his purposes; and, in fact, he very soon disclosed to the wily merchant, that he had in his possession a number of valuable slaves, intended for the service, or to purchase the favour of the young king. The appearance of this negro courtier was pleasing and imposing. He was, in person, tall and well shaped; his dress was that usual in the country, but the material fine, and the colour perfectly white: his cap was also white and small. He wore large gold earrings, which, together with the pure white of his light dress, contrasted well with the jet black of his polished skin. In disposition he was so cruel and vindictive, that when he received an affront, even in the most trifling instance, he scrupled not to sacrifice the aggressor by shooting him.

He possessed several wives, of whom he was very jealous, and whom he treated as slaves. He had also several brothers, to whom he seldom spoke, or even permitted them to enter his presence; but when he did grant them admission, they were obliged to take off their caps, prostrate themselves at his feet, and throw dust on their heads.

It may readily be imagined, that a disposition so cruel and arbitrary, would be stimulated almost to fury and madness by the powerful influence of ardent spirits; and the fact was, that his thirst for brandy was so insatiable, that, to procure it, he scrupled not to execute any act of oppression, cruelty, or treachery. He had even been known, in order to procure slaves, with which to purchase brandy, secretly to set fire to a village, and then send the ministers of his cruelty to seize the distracted people as they rushed from destruction, to bind and to send them to the European factories, or to the joncoes, (or black slave-merchants,) and sell them for brandy and rum; which he would continue to drink till expended, without any cessation but that forced upon him by stupefaction or sleep.

It would not be consistent with the plan of our tale, to make any remarks upon the probabilities of what this man might have been, had not the slave-trade existed; or what direction his cunning and arbitrary disposition might have taken; but we may venture to say, that he could not have had so extensive opportunities of oppression, nor could his cruelties have created such incalculable misery. “For it has been proved, on the most convincing evidence, that the demand for slaves has had the most fatal effect in exciting and developing every vice and every bad passion among these people; of perverting their rude institutions, and poisoning their domestic relations. It has been proved by evidence unquestionable, that, as we have asserted, the tyrant chiefs of Africa were daily induced to condemn, indiscriminately, whole families, for trivial or imaginary crimes, with the sole object of obtaining possession of the individuals composing those families, and exchanging them for bad powder and bad muskets; to station their soldiers in ambush, on the roads, with orders to rush on the unarmed traveller, and load him with chains; to attack, at night, villages sunk in repose, dragging into slavery men, women, and children, of an age suited to their purpose, and mercilessly butchering the aged and the infant. It has been proved, upon authority equally good, that famine, devastation, and continual warfare, undertaken for the sole purpose of taking prisoners, were the inevitable consequences of the slave ships’ presence on the coast; and that the Europeans not only were witnesses of this desolation, but furnished the arms, nourished the hatred, fomented the discord, and were the communicaters of the moral blast, which shed its pestilential influence over the population of a country, which, under the benign protection of a fair and legitimate commerce, is assuredly capable of being civilized, enlightened, and happy; and which, in return for the inestimable gifts of instruction and religion, would cheerfully and gratefully pour its riches into the bosoms of its benefactors. But, can the arts which embellish life, can the virtues which expand the heart, can the principles that elevate the soul, can these find rest, or even enter a region devoted to blood, oppression, and desolation? Alas! while the slave-trade exists, we are compelled to unite in the fear expressed by an enlightened patriot, that ‘there is no prospect of civilization or happiness for Africa.’ ”