THE PIRATE MASON
FREEMASONS MONTHLY MAGAZINE - 1842
THE always talented, and sometimes eccentric, HARRIET
MARTINEAU, in her Retrospect of
"Western Travels," relates
the following anecdote:-
"Then came Captain L. with
his five fine daughters. He
looked too old to be their
father; and well he might. When
master of a vessel, he was
set ashore by pirates, with his
crew, on a desert
Island, where he was
thirty-six days
without food. Almost all his crew were dead, and he just
dying, when help arrived - by means of Freemasonry.
Among the pirates was a Scotchman,
a Mason, as was
Captain L. The two
exchanged signs. The Scotchman could
not give aid at the moment;
but after many days of fruitless
and anxious attempts, he
contrived to sail back, at the risk of
his life, and landed on the desert
Island
on the thirty-sixth
day from his leaving it. He had no expectation of finding the
party alive; but to take the chance and loose no time, he
jumped ashore with a kettle full
of wine in his hand. He
poured wine down the
throats of the few whom he found still
breathing, and treated them
so judiciously that they
recovered. At least it was
called recovery: but Capt. L.'s
looks are very haggard and
nervous still. He took the
Scotchman home, and
cherished him to the day of his
death:'
It will probably be
recollected by a portion of our readers,
that while in this country,
we believe in the year 1856, Miss
Martineau, perhaps laboring
under one of those fits of
eccentricity which
frequently lead her into acts of
indiscretion, sided with
the enemies of our Institution, and
contributed of her talents
and influence to bring it into
disrepute and public
contempt. It operated in her case,
however, as did McFingal's
gun, which
"Being charged for duck, or
plover,
Shot wide and kicked its
owner over."
Of the result of that
exploit we do not complain. That which
excites our surprise is,
that she should have so far forgotten
what is due to the
character of an ingeuous and honorable
opponent - a character that
we had a right to expect to find in
a lady of her intelligence
- as to give publicity to an incident,
the truth of which she does
not doubt, so beautifully
exhibiting the practical
utility of the Order under its holier
attributes - without the
slightest reference to her previously
expressed opinions. It
afforded her an honorable opportunity
to have acknowledged her
error, and to have done tardy
justice to an Institution,
which, while writing the anecdote,
she must have felt
conscious she had wrongfully traduced.
But her self-pride was
permitted to triumph, even to the
prejudice of her character
for integrity and truth! Comment,
however, was not necessary.
The mere recital of the incident
furnished a full refutation
of all she had previously written
against the Institution.
She has given to her readers the
evidence, that the heart of
the renegade - dead to all other
associations but that of
crime - can be reached and
awakened to a sense of the
kindlier feelings of humanity, by
the irresistible appeals of
Freemasonry. The pirate-Mason,
at the risk of his own
life, saves that of his Brother! What a
sweet spirit is here shown!
- the pirate no more, but warmed
by the benevolent
affections, he pants to succor and to save.
Even in such hands, the
wine is blessed by Him whose ways
are indeed mysterious.
