That takes away his life.
One knows not how to account for the origin of that act which takes away one’s own life: self-love and self-preservation are so deeply rooted in the very nature of all living creatures, that it is the ultimate motive of all actions to endeavor to sustain and preserve life; fear of destroying it is so instinctive in all animals that they seem to flee from danger without any reasoning in the act, and almost without knowing when the volition begins.
But the suicide reverses everything; he does an act which is not natural, not rational, not desirable, and dangerous; he rushes into the presence of his God with all his former crimes, and this most heinous of all brings him there.
From the first to the twenty-sixth nothing material occurred, but a constant fall of snow every day; but the season was less severe than that of the year before.
In the interim, prisoners arrived from different quarters of the globe; some taken in Canada on the lakes, and others on the land; and amongst these arrivals was the crew of the privateer Leo, captured off the coast of Portugal.
On the twenty-ninth, we were most agreeably surprised with the joyful tidings of peace! The preliminaries were announced in the London paper which we received this day, and the news was confirmed by a letter from Mr. Beasley, received the same day, stating that the treaty had been signed by the Commissioners at Ghent, on the 24th, and that the sloop-of-war Favorite would sail with the treaty on the second of January, one thousand eight hundred and fifteen, with all possible speed, for the United States, and that three months would release every man from confinement.
Language is too feeble to describe the transports of joy that so suddenly and unexpectedly filled every heart. Every man forgot the many tedious days and nights he had so often numbered over within these prison walls. The memory of his better days rose fresh in his mind, and he once more hoped to return to his native country, which he had so long despaired of ever revisiting; his liberty, the embraces of his friends, he knew better how to prize by being so long deprived of them. The delicious fruits of plenty he could by his imagination taste.
The prison was now in great confusion and bustle in preparing to celebrate the peace, which we were confident would be honorable to our country. We were confident that the ground-work of the treaty must be free trade and sailors’ rights, and made arrangements to celebrate it in a manner conformable to the rights of the ocean.
We obtained a quantity of powder of the soldiers, unknown to the keepers, and made large cartridges, wound them up in twine, so that when exploded would make a report as loud as a six-pounder; we then procured a large ensign, and a pendant for each prison; we prepared a white flag in the centre, painted in large capitals, “Free Trade and Sailors’ Rights.”
The next morning, to the astonishment of the officers and guards, we displayed the flags on the top of each prison; and on No. 3, which was styled the Commodore, displayed the white flag with the above motto, and at the same time fired a salute of seventeen rounds.