The Slave in History; His Sorrows and His Emancipation (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1904 Excerpt: ...of being elected Grand Master, but the wisest spirits feared the use he might make of his power; then in anger he resigned his command of the galleys of the Order, and set sail on ' a private adventure, ' with some of the younger Knights. Yet the Knights of Malta were regarded as one of the scourges of piracy; again and again they chastised Turkish slave-ships with a strong hand. Letters from both Charles II. and Anne remain in which the Knights are thanked. In one of the expeditions despatched by Charles, fifty Knights were rescued at Tripoli, and returned to their homes. But the Knights had their own views of slavery. They made of Malta a slave-mart, set up a dungeon within the convent, and scoured the seas to keep it supplied w1th infidel captives. These they sold. For thirty-five Turks whom an English sailor had betrayed to them, they asked from the English Government, who wished to repair the wrong, a ransom of 10,000. The Kings of France and Spain drew annually upon them; Charles II., wishing to keep some galleys in the Mediterranean, became a purchaser, and protested against the customs demand of five pieces of gold. The unhappy wretches, whom the Knights kept chained to the oar, fared badly. A Moslem slave, who had obtained his release, went to Constantinople, persuaded the sultan to let him have ten ships, and returned to Malta intent on raising the slaves in insurrection, but the plot was discovered. It led to a proposal for giving freedom to the captives by an exchange of Moslem and Christian, but that also fell through. Twenty years later a negro of active brain hatched another conspiracy; a general massacre was planned; but a quarrel led to the treacherous betrayal of the plot, and sixty of the conspirators suffered death. Almost to the la...