The Town: Its Memorable Characters and EventsHunt, Leigh
History
The Town: Its Memorable Characters and Events
Hunt, Leigh
London (England) -- Description and travel; London (England) -- History
"When we had just passed the straits, we saw coming towards us,
with full sails, a Turkish galley well manned, and we believed
we should be all carried away slaves, for this man had so laden
his ship with goods from Spain, that his guns were useless,
though the ship carried sixty guns; he called for brandy, and
after he had well drunken, and all his men, which were near two
hundred, he called for arms, and cleared the deck as well as he
could, resolving to fight rather than lose his ship, which was
worth thirty thousand pounds; this was sad for us passengers,
but my husband bid us be sure to keep in the cabin, and not
appear--the women--which would make the Turks think we were a
man-of-war, but if they saw women they would take us for
merchants and board us. He went upon the deck, and took a gun
and bandoliers, and sword, and, with the rest of the ship's
company, stood upon deck, expecting the arrival of the Turkish
man-of-war. This beast, the captain, had locked me up in the
cabin; I knocked and called long to no purpose, until at length
the cabin-boy came and opened the door; I, all in tears,
desired him to be so good as to give me his blue thrum cap he
wore, and his tarred coat, which he did, and I gave him
half-a-crown, and putting them on, and flinging away my
night-clothes, I crept up softly, and stood upon the deck by my
husband's side, as free from sickness and fear, as, I confess,
from discretion; but it was the effect of that passion which I
could never master.
"By this time the two vessels were engaged in parley, and so
well satisfied with speech and sight of each other's forces,
that the Turks' man-of-war tacked about, and we continued our
course. But when your father saw it convenient to retreat,
looking upon me, he blessed himself, and snatched me up in his
arms, saying, 'Good God, that love can make this change!' and
though he seemingly chid me, he would laugh at it as often as
he remembered that voyage."
We now come to an event, uniting the most touching circumstances of
private life with the loftiest utility of public, and the benefits of
which we are this day enjoying, perhaps in every one of our comforts.
In this square, now possessed by inhabitants who can think and write
as they please on all subjects, and the centre of which is adorned
with roses and lilacs, was executed the celebrated patriot, Lord
Russell. We should ill perform any part of the object of this work, if
we did not dwell at some length upon a scene so interesting, and upon
the circumstances that led to it.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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