Chapter II: Part I: Simeon Potter and the Prince Charles of Lorraine (1)

1--SIMEON POTTER

Most famous among the names of the old sea captains of Bristol is that of Simeon Potter. For almost half a century Potter was the most conspicuous figure in the town in which he was born. He was also one of the influential men in the Colony and State of Rhode Island for a large part of that time.

Simeon Potter was born in Bristol in the year 1720. His father was not a man of fortune and the boy’s education was almost entirely neglected. His letters, even in advanced age, are those of an illiterate man who, apparently, had never attempted to remedy the deficiencies of his youth. Perhaps this is not to be wondered at. He went forth from Bristol an humble sailor lad whose only possessions were a sound body and an imperious will. After a comparatively few years spent upon the ocean he returned to his native town with a purse overflowing with riches, a man to be looked up to for the rest of his life.

His wealth was acquired in “privateering,” and tales of his captures upon the sea, and especially of his wild marauding descents upon foreign coasts, were familiar as household words to the ears of the Bristolians of three-quarters of a century ago. Those tales lost nothing in the telling and in them Potter came to be endowed with attributes he never possessed. This was especially the case with his stature. Like Charlemagne he continued to grow taller with each fifty years after his death. He came in time to be pictured as a giant in size and strength, a man whose success was largely due to the might of his arm, and not to any especial mental ability. It was not until the narrative which follows had been brought to light that we were able to see him as he really was, a slight man. Possibly his great wealth rather than an overpowering personality may have been the cause of his large influence. His fortune was estimated at a quarter of a million dollars, which was an enormous sum for those days.

He plunged gladly into the conflicts of the turbulent age, and by a happy chance came forth from them all without serious injury. When wars ceased his restless energy forced him into constant litigations; he seemed never to be happy unless he had some legal contest on his hands. His intense pride had much to do with this. Like many self-made men he could brook no opposition; he exacted from his townsmen the deference invariably rendered by seamen to the quarter-deck, and never forgot that his success was due to his own unaided efforts. Very soon after the Prince Charles had returned from the raid upon Oyapoc it was visited by some officers from a British man-of-war then lying in the harbor of Newport. They were greatly pleased with the trim, man-o’-war appearance of the privateer and expressed their approbation of its commander. Unfortunately they did so with a patronizing condescension that was exceedingly galling to the young captain. When at last one of them ventured to ask “why he did not apply to his Majesty for a commission as the king would undoubtedly give him a larger and better ship” he could no longer contain himself. “When I wish for a better ship I will not ask his Majesty for one, I will build one myself,” he said, and, turning on his heel, left the Englishman wondering what he could have said that seemed so offensive.

Potter left the sea and came back to Bristol to live just after the town had been transferred from Massachusetts to Rhode Island. He was first chosen to represent the town in the General Assembly in 1752, and from that time until the Revolution, when he had become an Assistant, an office corresponding to that of a Senator today, his voice was continually heard in the colonial councils. After the war had really begun his zeal (though not his pugnacity) seems to have waned and he ceased to take an active part in the affairs of either town or State. Possibly the larger ability, the increasing influence and the more striking personality of his townsman, Governor William Bradford, may have had something to do with Potter’s retirement from participation in public life.

However that may be, when the contest that was to result in the independence of the United Colonies began he plunged into it with immense delight. These lines in his own handwriting, preserved to the present day by a descendant of one of his sisters (he left no children), show clearly his mental attitude at that time:

I love with all my heart
The independent part.
To obey the Parliament
My conscience wont consent.
I never can abide
To fight on England’s side.
I pray that God may bless
The great and Grand Congress.
This is my mind and heart
Though none should take my part
The man thats called a Tory
To plague is all my glory.
How righteous is the cause
To keep the Congress laws!
To fight against the King
Bright Liberty will bring.
Lord North and England’s King
I hope that they will swing.
Of this opinion I
Resolve to live and die

His participation in the destruction of the Gaspee has been already described. When the office of Major-General of the Rhode Island Colonial Forces was created his zeal and energy had so impressed his fellow members of the General Assembly that he was chosen to fill it. His tenure of office must have been brief. In 1776 he had been chosen Assistant (Assistants were elected by the vote of all the freemen of the Colony), but he did not present himself at many meetings of the Assembly. In fact so neglectful was he of his duties that a vote was passed requesting his reasons for absenting himself, and demanding his attendance at the next session. Undoubtedly the increased taxes had something to do with it. He was the wealthiest citizen of Bristol and one of the richest men in the Colony, and the possession of money was his chief delight. He could not bear to see it taken away from him even though the independence of the Colonies might thereby be assured. (One day a young nephew was talking with him and lamenting his apparent lack of success. “How, Captain Potter,” said he, “shall I go to work to make money?” “Make money,” said Potter, “make money! I would plow the ocean into pea porridge to make money.”)

In 1777 his name appears for the last time in the Colonial Records. At the Town Meeting held in Bristol in May of that year “Colonel Potter was chosen Moderator, but after the usual officers were elected he withdrew and refused to serve any longer.” A tax collector’s account was then presented showing that he had neglected to pay all his taxes. Three years later, May 10, 1780, it was voted in Town Meeting “That the Assessors make enquiry and make report to the town at the adjournment of the meeting, what part of Colonel Potter’s taxes remain unpaid, and that Mr. Smith, the collector, be desired to apply to the Assessors of the town of Swansey to know at what time said Potter began to pay taxes in said town, and what part of his personal estate has been rated from time to time in said town.” Although he still retained his household in Bristol he had taken up his residence in Swansey, where the rate of taxation was considerably less than that of Bristol. In that Massachusetts town he continued, nominally, to reside for the rest of his life. Notwithstanding his residence in another State he still continued a member of Saint Michael’s Church. In 1792 a vote of the Vestry was passed, thanking him for painting the church edifice, and for other benefactions, and in 1799 he presented a bell (with a French inscription) to the parish. His name headed the list of vestrymen from 1793 until his death. He died, at the age of eighty-six, February 20, 1806, leaving no children. His estate was by will divided among his nine sisters and their descendants. All the beneficiaries did not fare alike. He had his favorites and his strong prejudices. As is almost always the case popular estimate had exaggerated the value of his property. Instead of a quarter of a million, less than half that amount was divided among his heirs. The inventory showed that he had made a great many “wildcat” investments.

From his house on Thames Street the old captain was borne to his last resting place in the burying-ground upon the Common. It was the most impressive funeral the town had witnessed. All the people turned out to see the long procession, and to take part in it. The privateering exploits of his early life were again retold, the innumerable legal battles of his later days were again recounted. Full of strife and tumult were the centuries in which his life had been passed, stormy and passionate his own career had been. He was perhaps the last, he was certainly the most successful, of the old sea captains who, as English subjects, had sailed forth from Narragansett Bay to make war as privateersmen upon the foes of Great Britain. But among those who followed his corpse to its final resting place were men who in less than a decade were to sail out from Bristol harbor in a little private armed vessel whose success as a privateer was to surpass his wildest imaginings, a vessel that was to collect from English merchants a tribute many times exceeding that which he had exacted from the enemies of England. The story of that vessel will be told in the last chapter of this book.

Potter was most noted for his raid upon the coast of French Guiana of which an account follows. He was captain of a typical American privateer when Narragansett Bay was noted throughout the Colonies as a nursery of privateersmen. Rhode Island furnished more privately armed vessels for the service of the mother country during the eighteenth century than did any other American Colony. From the year 1700 to the Revolution at least one hundred and eighty such ships sailed out from its ports. They were long and narrow, crowded with seamen for their more speedy handling, and manœuvered with a skill that placed the slower ships of the French and Spaniards entirely at their mercy. They carried long guns which enabled them to disable their adversaries at a distance, thus preventing their enemies from inflicting any damage in return. Because built for speed they were of light construction. A broadside from a man-of-war would have gone crashing through their hulls and sent them at once to the bottom of the sea, but the seamanship of their captains always kept them out of reach of such a broadside. Their greatest danger was from the gales that drove them upon a rocky coast. Then no skill of their captains could save them. Their slight frames were quickly broken to pieces, sometimes with the loss of every man on board. The Prince Charles of Lorraine was wrecked upon the rocks of Seaconnet Point not long after the voyage herein described.

The kind of warfare in which they engaged would not now be regarded as honorable, yet it was then approved by all nations. Not only did they seek prizes upon the ocean; a descent upon the coast of the enemy, a plundering of a rich town especially if it was undefended, was an exploit from which they derived the liveliest satisfaction. They preferred that kind of an expedition, for, as was always the case with private armed ships, their aim was simply to acquire wealth for themselves, not to inflict unprofitable damage upon their adversaries. Privateering was only a species of legalized piracy as far as these raids were concerned. Happily the ruthless bloodshed and the outrages which characterized the raids of the buccaneers and other pirates were never charged against sailors on the legally commissioned private armed ships. Their trade was brutal but they carried it on with the approbation of their fellow men because it was a custom that had prevailed from time immemorial.

Very rarely have records of their raids been preserved, more rarely still accounts written by their victims. The one which follows was discovered and made public some three-quarters of a century ago by Bishop Kip of California. At the sale of a famous library in England he purchased a set of the “Letters of Jesuit Missionaries from 1650-1750,” bound in fifty or more volumes. In 1875 he published a volume containing translations of the letters relating especially to American history. From this volume, which has long been out of print, the following account is taken.

The owners of the Prince Charles of Lorraine were Sueton Grant, Peleg Brown and Nathaniel Coddington, Jr., of Newport. Simeon Potter of Bristol was her captain, and Daniel Brown of Newport was her lieutenant. Among the Bristol men on the privateer were Mark Anthony De Wolf (founder of the family destined to become most famous in the history of the town), clerk; Benjamin Munro, master; Michael Phillips, pilot; William Kipp and Jeffrey Potter, the last being probably an Indian slave of Potter. Upon her return from her cruise Captain Potter was summoned before an admiralty court, having been accused of certain high handed, not to say illegal proceedings. Among other things he was charged with having fired upon a Dutch vessel while his ship was lying at anchor in Surinam, Dutch Guiana. He proved to the satisfaction of the court that he had fired upon the Dutch ship at the request of the Captain of the Port, in order to “bring her to,” his own ship being between the vessel and the fort at the time and so preventing the fire of the fort. The admiralty judge decided that Potter had not been guilty of the offences charged, and that he had shown zeal and enterprise worthy of commendation and imitation. The trial proceedings combined with Father Fauque’s narrative give a complete history of the cruise.

The privateer sailed from Newport September 8, 1744, and arrived at “Wiopock, twelve leagues to the windward of Cyan,” October 28. Up to that time she had taken no prizes. Upon his arrival Potter took thirty-two men and made a descent upon the town. They reached it at midnight and were at once fired upon by its garrison, Captain Potter receiving a bullet in his left arm. Of course they took the fort; garrisons in the tropics were never equal to privateersmen as fighters. They took some twenty prisoners (the other defenders having promptly fled), six cannon and from sixty to seventy small arms. They remained at Wiapock twelve days while they sacked the town, taking from it everything of value. Some of the company were sent up the river to plunder plantations. All things taken were carried to Barbadoes and there condemned as French property, with the exception of some slaves detained at Surinam and some personal property which Potter sold at a “vandue” on his ship. Having stripped Wiapock (the name of the place was Oyapoc but American and English captains were never strong on spelling) to their hearts’ content, they sailed to “Cyann” (Cayenne) and dropped anchor at that place November 11. There they tarried four or five days, during which they sent plundering expeditions up the river. One of these came to grief on a shoal. The twelve men who manned the boat were attacked by one hundred and thirty soldiers, three of them were killed, four were wounded and the others carried to Cyann fort as prisoners. Thereupon Potter sent a flag of truce to propose an exchange of prisoners. The exchange was arranged and among those returned by the Americans was “a priest,” Father Fauque. Then the Prince Charles sailed to Surinam well satisfied with what had been accomplished. At Surinam Captain Potter gave an entertainment to two English merchants and some masters of ships that were at anchor in the port. Seamen of that day were not always total abstainers and after the banquet the “vandue” was had of which mention has already been made. The prices obtained for the plunder were doubtless satisfactory for the most part to the sellers, but not in all cases. The goods sold “to the value of thirty or forty pieces of eight.” They belonged to the “company” and the captain purchased many of them on his own account thereby furnishing cause for the suit brought against him on his return to Rhode Island, from which suit he came out triumphant. Immediately after the sale the seamen demanded their share of the proceeds. Captain Potter told them they were still in debt to the owners for advances made and as his arguments were enforced by a drawn sword they were admitted to be valid.

In his testimony before the admiralty court the Indian, Jeffrey Potter, was more specific as to the plunder secured at Wiapock than any other witness. He testified that they took seven Indians and three negroes, twenty large spoons or ladles, nine large ladles, one gold and one silver hilted sword, one gold and one silver watch, two bags of money, quantity uncertain; chests and trunks of goods, etc., gold rings, buckles and buttons, silver candlesticks, church plate both gold and silver, swords, four cannon, sixty small arms, ammunition, provisions, etc. But the wealth secured on this raid could not have been very great. French Guiana at the present time has a population of only 30,000, of whom 12,500 live at Cayenne. The number of people then living at Oyapoc was much smaller than the population of today. The town burned by the marauding expedition sent up the river contained not more than seventy houses, and anyone who has visited the countries lying along the north coast of South America knows that “the wealth of the tropics” is a wild figure of speech as far as the house furnishings are concerned.

Equally wild are some of the accounts of the raid. One writer states that “there can be no doubt that in this cruise Captain Potter and his command invaded and desolated 1500 miles of the enemy’s territory; that on the Spanish Main in his march he visited churches and dwellings, and brought from the field of his exploits large amounts of booty.” This writer was but repeating the tale as it had been told him in his childhood. He had never deemed it necessary to verify it. If he had considered the matter he would have realized that French Guiana is not a part of the Spanish Main at all, and a glance at the map would have shown him that between Cayenne and the mouth of the Orinoco River, where technically the “Spanish Main” begins, lie the hundreds of miles of coastline of Dutch and British Guiana. No privateer of the size of the Prince Charles could possibly have carried provisions and water sufficient for such a cruise if the expedition had been made in the vessel itself, and no ship’s crew of the size of that which Potter commanded could, by any stretch of the imagination, have made such a journey overland. Moreover no mention whatever of the Spanish Main, or of booty except that obtained at Cyann and Wiapock, is to be found in the records of the admiralty court. The statement affords an excellent illustration of the astounding growth of popular traditions.

2--LETTER OF FATHER FAUQUE

LETTER _of Father Fauque, Missionary of the Society of
Jesus, to Father ----, of the same Society, containing an Account of
the Capture of Fort d’Oyapoc by an English pirate_.[7]

_At_ CAYENNE, _the 22d of December, 1744_.

MY REVEREND FATHER,--The peace of our Lord be with you! I will make you a partaker of the greatest happiness I have experienced in my life, by informing you of the opportunity I had of suffering something for the glory of God.

I returned to Oyapoc on the 25th of October last. Some days afterwards, I received at my house Father d’Autilhac, who had returned from his mission to Ouanari, and Father d’Huberlant, who is settled at the confluence of the rivers Oyapoc and Camoppi, where he had formed a new mission. Thus we found ourselves, three missionaries, together; and we were enjoying the pleasure of a reunion, so rare in these countries, when divine Providence, to try us, permitted the occurrence of one of those wholly unexpected events which in one day destroyed the fruit of many years’ labor. I will relate it, with all the attending circumstances.

Scarcely had war been declared between France and England, when the English were sent from North America to cruise among the islands to the leeward of Cayenne. They determined to touch there, in the hope of capturing some vessel, pillaging some dwellings, and above all, of obtaining some news of the “Senau,” which was lost not long since near the river Maroni. Having gone too far south, and the water giving out, they approached Oyapoc to obtain some. We should have been naturally informed of it, either by the Indians, who go out frequently to hunt or fish, or by the guard, which our commander had prudently posted upon a mountain at the mouth of the river, whence they could see to the distance of three or four leagues. But, on the one hand, the Aroüas Indians, who came from Mayacorè to Ouanari, having been seized by the English, gave them information of the little colony of Oyapoc, of which they were ignorant, and on which they had no designs when leaving their own country. On the other hand, the sentinels who were on guard, and who should have been our security, themselves acted as guides to those who surprised us. Thus every thing united to cause us to fall into the hands of these pirates.[8]

Their chief was Captain Simeon Potter, a native of New England, fitted out to cruise with a commission from Williems Guéene, Governor of Rodelan,[9] and commanding the vessel “Prince Charles of Lorraine,” of ten cannon, twelve swivel-guns, and a crew of sixty-two men. They cast anchor on the 6th of November, and began taking in water at the mountain d’Argent. (This is the name of the country on the inner side of the bay formed by the river d’Oyapoc.) On the 7th, their long-boat, returning to the ship, saw a canoe of Indians, which was coming from Cape Orange. (This is the cape which forms the other point of the bay.) The English pursued them, frightened them by a discharge of their gun, seized them, and carried them on shipboard. The next day, having seen a fire during the night on another mountain, which is called Mount Lucas, they sent and seized two young men who were placed there as sentinels. They might have had time to come and inform us; but one of them, a traitor to his country, did not wish to do so.

After having in this way learned the situation, the force, and generally everything which related to the post of Oyapoc, they determined to surprise it. They attempted the enterprise in the night, between the 9th and 10th. But, fearing lest daylight might overtake them before their arrival, they turned back, and kept themselves concealed during all the day of the 10th. The following night they took their measures better. They arrived a little after the setting of the moon, and, guided by the two young Frenchmen, they landed about a hundred yards from the fort of Oyapoc.

The sentinel at first took them for Indians or negroes, who came and went at all hours during the night. He challenged them, but they made no reply, and he then at once concluded they were enemies. Every one woke up in surprise; but the English were within the place before any one had time to collect his thoughts. For myself, who was living outside the fort, and was roused by the first cry of the sentinel, having opened my door, I saw them file by in great haste; and, not being myself perceived, I immediately ran to awaken our Fathers.

So unexpected a surprise in the middle of a dark night, the weakness of the post, the few soldiers there to defend it (for there were not at that time more than ten or twelve men), the frightful shouts of a multitude which we supposed, as was natural, more numerous than it really was, the vivid and terrible fire which they kept up with their guns and pistols on entering the place,--all these things induced each one, by a first impulse of which he was not himself master, to take to flight, and conceal himself in the woods which surrounded us. Our commander, however, fired and wounded in the left arm the English captain, a young man about thirty years of age. What is singular, the captain was the only one wounded on either side.

Our two missionaries, however, who had no spiritual charge at this post, and one of whom, through his zeal and friendship, wished to remain at my place, pressed by my solicitations, took refuge in the depths of the forest, with some Indians of their attendants and all our servants. For myself, I remained in my house, which was distant from the fort about a hundred yards, having resolved to go first to the church to consume the consecrated wafer, and afterwards to carry spiritual aid to the French, supposing that some of them had been wounded there; as I thought, certainly not without reason, after having heard so much firing of guns, that our people had made some resistance.

I went out, therefore, to execute the first of these projects; when a negro servant, who, through goodness of heart and fidelity (rare qualities among the slaves), had remained with me, represented to me that I would certainly be discovered, and they would not fail to fire at me in the first heat of the contest. I yielded to these reasons, and, as I only remained to render to my flock all the services demanded by my ministry, I felt scruples at uselessly exposing myself, and determined to wait until break of day to show myself.

You can easily imagine, my Reverend Father, what a variety of emotions agitated me during the remainder of that night. The air ceaselessly resounded with cries and shouts and yells, and with the discharge of guns and pistols. Presently I heard the doors and windows of the houses opened, and the furniture overthrown with a great crash; and, as I was sufficiently near to distinguish perfectly the noise they made in the church, I was suddenly seized with an inward horror in the fear lest the Holy Sacrament might be profaned. I would have given a thousand lives to prevent this sacrilege; but there was not time. Nevertheless, to hinder it by the only way which remained to me, I inwardly addressed myself to Jesus Christ, and earnestly prayed Him to guard His adorable Sacrament from the profanation which I feared. What took place was in a way so surprising that it may reasonably be regarded as a miracle.

During all this tumult, my negro, who was perfectly aware of the danger we were running, and who had not the same reason with myself for this voluntary exposure, frequently proposed to me to take to flight. But I was unable to do so. I knew too well the obligations of my office; and I could only wait for the moment when it would be in my power to go to the fort, and see in what state were the French soldiers, the greater part of whom I supposed to be either dead or wounded. I said, therefore, to the slave that on this occasion he was his own master; that I could not force him to remain with me; but that, nevertheless, I should be pleased if he did not abandon me. I added that, if he had any grievous sin on his conscience, it would be best for him to confess it, to be prepared for any contingency, since he was not certain but what they might take away his life. This conversation made an impression on him, so that he recovered courage and remained firm.

As soon as day dawned, I ran to the church, creeping through the underwood; and, although they had sentinels and marauders on every side, I had the good fortune not to be seen. As I entered the sacristy, which I found open, tears filled my eyes when I saw the cupboard for the vestments and linen, where also I kept the chalice and the sacred vessels, broken open and shattered, and many of the vestments scattered here and there. I went into the choir of the church, where I saw the altar half uncovered, and the cloths thrown together in a heap. I examined the tabernacle, and found they had not noticed a little piece of cotton, which I was accustomed to place at the opening of the lock to prevent the _ravers_ from getting into it. (This is an insect very common in the islands, which only comes out at night, and is very similar to the gadfly.) I supposed that the door was also broken open; but, placing my hand upon it, I found that it had not been touched. Overcome with wonder and joy and thankfulness, I took the key which these heretics had had under their hands. I opened it with reverence, and partook of the Sacrament, very uncertain whether I should ever again have that blessing; for what has not a man of my profession to fear from pirates, and these pirates, too, being English?

After I had thus received the Sacrament, I fell on my knees to return thanks; and I told my negro to go in the mean while into my chamber, which was near at hand. He went there; but, in returning, was seen and arrested by a sailor. The slave begged for mercy, and the Englishman did not do him any harm. I showed myself then at the door of the sacristy, and immediately saw that I was aimed at. It was necessary, therefore, to surrender; so I came forward, and we took together the way to the fort. When we entered the place, I saw every face expressing the greatest joy, each one congratulating himself that they had captured a priest.

The first one who approached me was the captain himself. He was a man small in stature, and not in any respect differing from the others in dress. He had his left arm in a sling, a sabre in his right hand, and two pistols in his belt. As he was acquainted with some words of French, he told me “that I was very welcome; that I had nothing to fear, as no one would attempt my life.”

In the mean while, M. de Lage de la Landerie, Writer of the king, and our storekeeper, having appeared, I asked him in what condition were our people, and if many of them were killed or wounded. He answered me that they were not; that of our soldiers he had seen only the sergeant and one sentinel, and that on neither side was any one wounded but the English captain alone, in whose power we now were. I was delighted to learn that our commander, the officers, and their soldiers, had sufficient time to escape; and as by this fact the reasons which had induced me to remain no longer existed, and as my personal ministry was not necessary, I should have much preferred being at liberty, and, could I have done so, would have retreated. But I could not longer dream of that; and at that very moment two of our soldiers, who were found concealed, were seized, and increased the number of our prisoners.

At length dinner-time came. I was invited, but I certainly had no inclination to eat. I knew that our soldiers and the two missionary Fathers were in the depth of the forest, without clothes, food, or aid. I had no news of them, nor was I able to procure any. This reflection overwhelmed me; it was necessary, however, to accept their repeated invitations, which seemed to me to be sincere.

Scarcely had the meal commenced, when I saw arriving the first plunder they had made at my house. It was natural that I should be moved. Indeed, I showed it; so that the captain said to me, as an excuse for himself, that the King of France had first declared war against the King of England, and that in consequence of it the French had already taken, pillaged, and burned an English post named Campo, near Cape Breton, and that several persons, including children, had been smothered in the flames.

I answered him that, without wishing to enter into the detail of the affairs of Europe, our respective kings being to-day at war, I did not take it amiss; but was only surprised that he should have come to attack Oyapoc, which was not worth the trouble.[11] He replied that he himself exceedingly regretted having come here, as this delay might cause him to miss two merchant vessels, richly loaded, which were on the point of sailing from the harbor of Cayenne. I then said to him that, since he saw for himself how inconsiderable was this post, and that he had scarcely any thing to gain from it, I prayed him to accept a reasonable ransom, for my church, myself, my negro, and every thing belonging to me. This proposition was reasonable, but was, nevertheless, rejected. He wished that I should treat with him for the fort and all its dependencies. But I bade him observe that this was not a fit proposition to make to a simple priest; that, besides, the Court of France had so little regard for the post that recent news from Paris had apprised us that it would be abandoned as soon as practicable. “Well,” said he, in a spiteful way, “since you do not wish to entertain my proposition, we must continue our depredations, and make reprisals for all that the French have done against us.”

They continued, therefore, to transport from our houses furniture, clothes, provisions, all with a disorder and confusion that was remarkable. What gave me the deepest pain was to see the sacred vessels[12] in these profane and sacrilegious hands. I collected myself for a moment, and, awakening all my zeal, I told them what reason and faith and religion inspired me to say in the most forcible manner. With words of persuasion I mingled motives of fear for so criminal a profanation. The example of Belshazzar was not forgotten; and I am able to say to you with truth, my Reverend Father, that I saw many moved, and disposed to return these articles to me; but cupidity and avarice prevailed, and on the same day all the silver was packed up and carried aboard the vessel.[13]

The captain, more susceptible of feeling than all the others, as he had always seemed to me, told me that he would willingly yield to me what he was able to return, but that he had no control over the will of the others; that all the crew having part in the booty, he was not able, as captain, to dispose of any but his own share; but that he would do all that was in his power to induce the others to agree to what I proposed. This was to pay them at Cayenne, or at Surinam (a Dutch colony, which was not far distant, and where, they told me, they wished to go), or even in Europe by bills of exchange, for the value of the silver in the sacred vessels. But he was not able to obtain any thing.

Some time afterwards, the first lieutenant asked me, through an interpreter, “what induced me to surrender myself to them?” I replied to him, “that the persuasion I was under that some of our soldiers had been wounded had determined me to remain for their relief.” “And did you not fear being killed?” he added. “Yes, without doubt,” I said; “but the fear of death is not capable of stopping a minister of Jesus Christ, when he should discharge his duty. Every true Christian is obliged to sacrifice his life rather than commit a sin; and I should have thought that I was guilty of a very great one, if, having charge of souls in my parish, I had entirely abandoned them in their peril. You know, indeed,” I continued, “you Protestant people, who pride yourselves so much on reading the Scriptures, that it is only the hireling shepherd who flees before the wolf when he attacks the sheep.” At this discourse they looked at one another, and seemed to me to be entirely astonished. This lesson is, without doubt, something a little different from that of their pretended Reformation.

For myself, I was all the while uncertain with regard to my own fate, and I saw that I had every thing to fear from such people. I addressed myself, therefore, to the holy guardian angels, and I began a _Novena_[14] in their honor, not doubting but they would cause something to turn to my advantage. I prayed them to assist me in this difficult emergency in which I found myself; and I should say here, to give a higher sanction to this devotion, so well known and so established in the usage of the Church, what I have recognized in my own particular case, that I have received each day the signal blessings of God, through the intercession of these heavenly spirits.

However, as soon as night approached,--that is to say, towards six o’clock, for that is the time at which the sun sets here during the whole year,--the English drum commenced beating. They assembled on the Place, and posted their sentinels on all sides. That being done, the rest of the crew, as long as the night lasted, did not cease eating and drinking. For myself, I was constantly visited in my hammock, since they feared, without doubt, that I would try to escape. In this way they were mistaken; for two reasons detained me. The first was, that I had given them my parole, by which I had again constituted myself their prisoner, and I could not go out of their hands except by means of exchange or ransom. The second was, that, as long as I remained with them, I had some slight hope that I might recover the sacred vessels, or at least the vestments and other furniture of my church. As soon as it was day, the pillage recommenced, with the same confusion and the same disorder as the day before. Each carried to the fort whatever happened to fall into his hands, and threw it down in a pile. One arrived wearing an old cassock; another in a woman’s petticoat; a third with the crown of a bonnet on his head. It was the same with those who guarded the booty. They searched in the heap of clothes, and when they found any thing which suited their fancy,--as a peruke, a laced _chapeau_, or a dress,--they immediately put it on, and made three or four turns through the room, with great satisfaction, after which they resumed their fantastical rags. They were like a band of monkeys or of savages, who had never been away from the depths of the forest. A parasol or a mirror, the smallest article of furniture a little showy, excited their admiration. This did not surprise me, when I learned that they had scarcely any communication with Europe, and that Rodelan was a kind of little republic, which did not pay any tribute to the King of England, which elected its own governor every year, and which had not even any silver money, but only notes for daily commerce; for this is the impression I gained from all they told me.[15]

In the evening, the lieutenant informed himself of every thing which related to the dwellings of the French along the river,--how many there were of them, at what distances they were, how many inhabitants each had, &c. Afterwards, he took with him ten men, and one of the young Frenchmen who had already served as guide to surprise us; and, after having made all the necessary preparations, they set out, and went up the river. But they found nothing, or very few articles, because the colonists, having been warned by our fugitives, had placed all their effects in concealment, and particularly their negroes, who, more than any thing else, excited the cupidity of the English. Finding themselves thus disappointed in their hopes, they spent their anger on the buildings, which they burned, without, however, injuring the plantations. This, however, caused us to suspect that they had some intentions of returning.

As to those of us who were in the fort, we spent this night very much like the preceding,--the same agitations, the same excesses on the part of our enemies, and the same disquietude on our part. The second lieutenant, who was left in command, did not lose sight of me, fearing, without doubt, that I wished to profit by the absence of the captain and the first lieutenant to make my escape. I had a great deal of difficulty in reassuring them on this point, and could not convince them. People of this kind, accustomed to judge others by themselves, are not able to imagine that an honorable man, that a priest, was able and obliged to keep his parole in such a case.

When the day dawned, he seemed a little less uneasy on my account. Towards eight o’clock, they all placed themselves at table; and, after a miserable repast, one of them attempted to enter into a controversy with me. He put many questions to me about Confession, about the worship which we gave to the Cross, to images, &c. “Do you confess your parishioners?” he presently asked me.

“Yes,” I replied, “whenever they come to me; but they do not do so as often as they should, or as I could wish them, for the zeal I have for the salvation of their souls.”

“And do you really think,” he added, “that their sins are remitted as soon as they have declared them to you?”

“No, assuredly,” I said to him; “a mere confession is not sufficient to produce this. It is necessary that it should be accompanied by a true sorrow for the past and a sincere resolution for the future, without which auricular Confession will have no efficacy to blot out sins.”

“And as to the images and the Cross,” he replied, “do you think that the prayer would be equally efficacious without this, which is the external of religion?”

“The prayer is good, without doubt,” I answered him; “but permit me to ask you, with regard to yourself, why in families do they preserve the portraits of a father, a mother, or their ancestors? Is it not principally to awaken their own remembrances in thinking of the benefits they have received from them, and to animate them to follow their good examples? For it is not exactly the picture which they honor, but it brings back to them all which it represents. In the same manner, you need not imagine that we Roman Catholics adore the wood or the brass; but we use it to nourish, so to say, our devotion. For how could a reasonable being remain unaffected while beholding the figure of a God dying on the Cross for His love to us? What effect may not be produced on the soul and the heart by the image of a martyr who is giving his life for Jesus Christ?”

“Oh, I do not understand it so,” said the Englishman to me; and I well knew from his manner that their ministers deceive them in telling them that the Papists, as they call us, superstitiously reverence and adore the Cross and the images, valuing them for themselves.[16]

I was anxiously waiting for the return of those who had been to visit the dwellings, when they came to me to say that it was necessary I should go on board the ship, as Captain Potter wished to see me and speak with me. I had done every thing in my power by urging, soliciting, and representing, as earnestly as I was able, all the reasons I had for not embarking so soon. But I could gain nothing, and I was obliged to obey in spite of myself. The commander of the party on shore, who, in the absence of the others, was the second lieutenant, when I came to speak to him on this point, taking hold of his tongue with one hand, and with the other making a semblance of piercing or cutting it, gave me to understand that, if I said any more, I might expect bad treatment. I had reason to think that he was annoyed at the strong and pathetic address I had made with regard to the profanation of the ornaments of the church and the sacred vessels.

We embarked, therefore, towards three o’clock in the afternoon, in a canoe; and, although the ship was not much more than three leagues distant (the captain having now caused it to enter the river), we nevertheless only reached it in about eight hours, in consequence of the remissness of the rowers, who were constantly drinking. When at a great distance I saw the hull of the vessel by the light of the moon, it seemed to me to be entirely out of the water. It had, indeed, run aground on the shore, and had only a depth of three feet of water. This was the occasion of great alarm to me; for I imagined that this might be the fault of my negro, whom they had selected as one of the pilots, and I thought that the captain had sent to seek me to make me bear the penalty which my slave merited, or at least that I should perish with the others in case the ship should be wrecked. What confirmed me for some time in this sad supposition was the little degree of welcome I received; but I have since been informed that there was no design in this, and that the cold reception which alarmed me was caused by the fact that they were all busy in working the vessel, to relieve themselves as soon as possible from the uncomfortable position in which they were.

As soon as our canoe had reached the ship, I saw descending and coming to me a young man, who murdered the French language in some little attempt to speak it, and who took my hand, kissed it, and informed me that he was an Irishman and a Roman Catholic. He even made the sign of the Cross, which he did indifferently well; and he added that, in right of his office as second gunner, he had a berth which he wished to give me, and that, if any one should take it into his head to show me the least disrespect, he well knew how to avenge it. This introduction, though shared in by a man who seemed to be very drunk, did not fail to tranquillize me somewhat. He gave me his hand, to aid me in climbing up to the deck by means of the ropes. Scarcely had I mounted thither when I encountered my negro. I asked him at once why he caused the ship to run aground, and was reassured when he told me that it was the fault of the captain, who was obstinate in holding his course in the middle of the river, although he had repeatedly told him that the channel ran near the shore. At the same time the captain appeared on the quarter-deck, and told me, with great coldness, to go down into the cabin, after which he continued to devote himself to working the vessel.

My Irishman, however, did not leave me, but, sitting at the door, renewed his protestations of good-will, assuring me always that he was a Roman Catholic; that he wished to confess before I left the ship; that he had formerly received the Sacrament, &c. And, as in all his conversation, he constantly mingled invectives against the English nation, they made him leave me, forbidding him to speak with me for the future, under penalty of chastisement. He received this with a very bad grace; swearing, blustering, and protesting that he would speak with me in spite of them.

However, he went away; and scarcely had he gone when another came, as drunk as the first, and, like him, too, an Irishman. He was the surgeon, who at first addressed me with some Latin words,--_Pater, misereor_. I attempted to reply to him in Latin; but I soon found that these words constituted the whole of his knowledge of the language; and, as he was no better acquainted with French, we could hold no conversation together.

In the mean while it grew late, and I felt sleepiness pressing on me, having scarcely closed my eyes during the preceding nights. I did not know where to go to obtain a little repose. The ship was so careened over that it was necessary to be continually fastened to prevent one’s self rolling. I wanted to lie down in one of the three berths; but I did not dare, for fear some one would immediately force me to leave it. The captain saw my embarrassment, and, touched with the miserable figure we made, sitting on the chests,--the storekeeper and myself,--he told us we could lodge in the berth at the bottom of the cabin. He even added, politely, that he regretted not being able to give one to each, but his ship was too small to do so. I very willingly accepted his offer, and we arranged for ourselves as well as we could on a pile of rags.

Notwithstanding all the disquietudes of my situation, I was drowsy from weariness, and during the night slept half the time. Being half the time awake, I perceived that the vessel had begun moving. It insensibly floated; and, to prevent it from afterwards settling down again, they drove two yard-arms into the mud, one on each side, which should hold the hull of the vessel in equilibrium.

As soon as day came, and it was necessary to take some nourishment, I had a new source of torment, for the water was so offensive that I was not able even to taste it. The Indians and negroes, who certainly are not at all fastidious, preferred to drink the water of the river, however muddy and brackish it may be. I inquired, therefore, of the captain why he did not procure other water, since very near this was a spring, to which I was accustomed to send to procure the water I used at the fort. He made no reply, thinking, perhaps, that I wished to lead him into some ambush. But, after having thoroughly questioned the French, the negroes, and the Indians, whom he had taken prisoners, he determined to send the long-boat to land, with my slave. It made many trips during that and the following days; so that we all had the pleasure of having good water, although many scarcely used it, preferring the wine and rum which they had on the deck at will.

I ought, however, to say in commendation of the captain that he was entirely sober. He even frequently expressed to me the pain he felt at the excesses of his crew, to whom, according to the custom of these pirates, he was obliged to allow an abundance of liberty. He made me afterwards a disclosure, which was sufficiently pleasant.

“Monsieur,” he said to me, “do you know that tomorrow, being the fifth of November, according to our method of computation” [for we French people count it to be the fifteenth], “the English have a great festival?”

“And what is the festival?” I asked him.

“We burn the Pope,” he answered, laughing.

“Explain to me,” I said; “what is this ceremony?”

“They dress up in a burlesque style,” he said, “a kind of ridiculous figure, which they call the Pope, and which they afterwards burn, while singing some ballads; and all this is in commemoration of the day when the Court of Rome separated England from its communion.[17] To-morrow,” he continued, “our people who are on shore will perform this ceremony at the fort.”

After a while, he caused his pennon and flag to be hoisted. The sailors manned the yard-arms, the drum was beaten, they fired the cannon, and all shouted, five times, “Long live the King!” This having been done, he called one of the sailors, who, to the great delight of those who understood his language, chanted a very long ballad, which I judged to be the recital of all this unworthy story. You see in this, my Reverend Father, an instance which fully confirms what all the world knew before, that heresy always pushes to an extreme its animosity against the visible Head of the Church.