The Autobiography of a Cornish Smuggler: (Captain Harry Carter, of Prussia Cove) 1749-1809Carter, Harry
History
The Autobiography of a Cornish Smuggler: (Captain Harry Carter, of Prussia Cove) 1749-1809
Carter, Harry
Carter, Harry, 1749-1829; Smuggling -- Great Britain -- History
time. Oh, what a trying scene it was, to leave her in flood of tears. So
I arrived home to my dreary solitude a little before day. I, before
then, was greatly distressed for her soul, and through friends desired
Uncle James Thomas to visit her, so he did often. I think it was about
the 10 or 12 of the same month, when I was sitting upon a bench in one
of the ground floors, bemoaning my sad estate, I began to say to myself,
"I have loste my liberty, my property; I have loste my wife also"--as
she was the same as dead to me then--so I thought that if her life were
spared, it mattered little to me if I was to go to the West or East
Indies, so that I could only hear from her by letters, would leave me
some comfart. But that was taken away allso; so that when I was cutt off
from every comfart in this life, that I had not the least straw to lay
hold of, I begun to see the emptiness and vanity of everything here
below, and set up the resolution, God being my Helper, I will serve Him
the remnant of my days, so that I immediately fell to my knees and begun
to say, "Lord have mercy upon me. Christe, have mercey upon me," etc.;
and at that time I could not say the Lord's Prayer without form, if any
man would give me my liberty, being so long living without prayer. So,
then, as before time I used to divert myself in the daytime in looking
at the ships and boats in the bay, the men and cattle working in the
fields, etc., but now shut my eyes against them all; and if I had
business in the daytime to go to the top of the house, was with my eyes
shut. So I went on with the above prayer, sometimes in hope of mercy,
othertimes lost allmoste all hope. Oct^{r.} 24, in 1788, sailed from
Mounts Bay for Leghorn in the ship "George," Capt^{n.} Dewen, master.
Was put on board with a boate from the King's Cove, accompanied by
brother John, and I think I was allmoste like a dead man; thought little
or nothing consarning my wife or child, or anything in this world, but
was earnestely crying for mercy. I had a little cabin to myself to lodge
in, where there was only a single partition between me and the men. At
first it was a great pain to me to hear them swearing, but after a
little while took very little notice of it. I had sume very good books
to read with me, but they seem to be all locked up to me, as the natural
man cannot desarn the things of the Spirit of God, for they are to be
spiritualy desarned. I remember sumetimes reading, when I could not
understand, I should be so peevish and fretfull that I could heave the
book overboard. Then, oh, what a torment in my poor soul I feeled. Then
to think, surely the mercy of God is clean gone from me. Oh, what
burthen my life was unto me. At them times I seldom prayed then less in
secret than twelve times a day and night, and when I could pray with a
little liberty, I should be in hope of mercy, and at other times kneel
down and groan without one word brought to my remembrance, then allmoste
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