The Obi bowed his head in the affirmative, and Biassou continued—
“This brother of whom you are jealous, and whom I have appointed executioner, understands Latin!”
He turned to the new executioner—
“You know Latin, do you not? prove it to this blockhead. What is the meaning of Dominus vobiscum?”
The unhappy half-caste, roused from his gloomy reverie by the dreaded voice, raised his head, and though his brain was still troubled by the cowardly murder that he had just committed, terror compelled him to be obedient.
There was something pitiable in his manner, as his mind went back to his schooldays, and in the midst of his terrible feelings and remorse he repeated, in the tone of a child saying its lesson, “Dominus vobiscum—that means, ‘May the Lord be with you.’ ”
“Et cum spirito tuo,” added the mysterious Obi, solemnly.
“Amen,” repeated Biassou; then resuming his angry manner, and mingling with his reproaches some Latin phrases to impress the negroes with the superior attainments of their chief, he cried, “Go to the rear rank, sursum corda; never attempt to enter the places of those who know Latin, orate fratres, or I will have you hung. Bonus, bona, bonum!”
The astonished and terrified negro slunk away, greeted by the hoots and hisses of his comrades, who were indignant at his presumption, and impressed with the deep learning of their general.
Burlesque though this scene was, it inspired me with a very high idea of Biassou’s administrative capabilities. He had made ridicule the means of repressing ambitious aspirations, which are always so dangerous to authority in undisciplined bodies; and his cunning gave me a fuller idea of his mental powers, and the crass ignorance of the negroes under his command.