An Historical Account of the Rise and Progress of the Colonies of South Carolina and Georgia, Volume 1Hewatt, Alexander
History
An Historical Account of the Rise and Progress of the Colonies of South Carolina and Georgia, Volume 1
Hewatt, Alexander
Georgia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775; South Carolina -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775
"At the Court of general sessions, held in September 1724, three of them
were brought to trial, found guilty and condemned. Alas! miserable
creatures, what amazing infatuation possessed them! They pretended they
had the Spirit of God leading them to all truth, they knew it and felt
it: but this spirit, instead of influencing them to obedience, purity and
peace, commanded them to commit rebellion, incest, and murder. What is
still more astonishing, the principal persons among them, I mean the
prophet, the father of the family, and Michel Boneau, never were
convinced of their delusion, but persisted in it until their last breath.
During their trial they appeared altogether unconcerned and secure,
affirming that God was on their side, and therefore they feared not what
man could do unto them. They freely told the incestuous story in open
court in all its circumstances and aggravations, with a good countenance,
and very readily confessed the facts respecting their rebellion and
murder, with which they stood charged, but pled their authority from God
in vindication of themselves, and insisted they had done nothing in
either case but by his express command.
"As it is commonly the duty of clergymen to visit persons under sentence
of death, both to convince them of their error and danger, and prepare
them for death by bringing them to a penitent disposition; Alexander
Garden, the episcopal minister of Charlestown, to whom we are indebted
for this account, attended those condemned persons with great diligence
and concern. What they had affirmed in the court of justice, they
repeated and confessed to him in like manner in the prison. When he began
to reason with them and to explain the heinous nature of their crimes,
they treated him with disdain. Their motto was, Answer him not a word;
who is he that should presume to teach them, who had the Spirit of God
speaking inwardly to their souls. In all they had done, they said they
had obeyed the voice of God, and were now about to suffer martyrdom for
his religion. But God had assured them, that he would either work a
deliverance for them, or raise them up from the dead on the third day.
These things the three men continued confidently to believe, and
notwithstanding all the means used to convince them of their mistake,
persisted in the same belief until the moment they expired. At their
execution they told the spectators with seeming triumph, they should soon
see them again, for they were certain they should rise from the dead on
the third day. With respect to the other three, the daughter Judith being
with child, was not tried, and the two sons, David and John Dutartre,
about eighteen and twenty years of age, having been also tried and
condemned, continued sullen and reserved, in hopes of seeing those that
were executed rise from the dead, but being disappointed, they became, or
at least seemed to become, sensible of their error, and were both
pardoned.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account