Jack Book Two in the Trilogy: Murder on the High Seas

The Sermon: The Infinite Sea Part 3

On Sunday Master Whittemore gave the most troubling sermon either I or Jack had ever heard anyone give because I think he made enemies, telling them exactly what they didn't want to hear. Later, I found the only copy. I will say here what it said. But first let me note that the men had massed on the open deck beneath a drizzling, ominous sky that hinted of hurricane as the ship sailed off the coast of Cuba heading south to Jamaica. All of the crew, and even Captain Pendleton, were anticipating what this sea preacher - who rode a half dozen other slave ships in times past - had to say. The captain watched from his lofty position at the forecastle with his chief mate, Robert Hawkins, a smirk on his face, drinking his coffee from a tin, comfortable in the assumption that Master Whittemore's views of slavery still comported with his own. The captain was in for a rude awakening.

In a thunderous voice, Master Whittemore, looking skyward with his arms stretched out from his shoulders perpendicular to the deck, palms turned toward the grey skies, roared: "Slavery is the blackest of all evils because, not only do the enslavers rob others of their freedom, their spirit, their families and even their lives, but they first rob and enslave themselves, bowing down on their own diseased bellies to the false god of greed. Three years I preached to dirty slavers like yourselves on the open waters of the great oceans about what I deceitfully claimed were the great benefits of slavery to civilization. Know now what it took a lifetime for stupid me to learn - that slavery is a curse and participation in it will leave you hollow and cold as death. Awake from this ignorance as I finally did and cease the worship of the god of greed. Find yourselves work ye can be proud of men!"

About half of the stunned crew at that point walked away. One sailor said with a scowl, "This here be the wrong place and the wrong message mister. You ain't no preacher. You're just some crazy abolitionist. Com'on men let's get away from this fool!"

But Master Whittemore's voice thundered even louder so that as they were skulking away they turned around, realizing there was no place topside they could escape the sound of master's booming voice. Wind gusts drove the drizzle sideways into faces.

"In the name of money men will commit any abomination!" the preacher shouted, now on an unstoppable course like a ship pulled into the gale. "Mates, I used to preach for slavery on vessels like this one. I even spent some time on this bucket as some of you may remember. Three years. After that I became a teacher. I came back because I found out what I really knew all along - slavery is a curse upon the human race. It destroys men's spirit."

The crew became uneasy and several looked up to the forecastle to see how the captain would respond. But he just looked on, smoking his pipe, and you wondered what he was thinking.

Master continued, "The sea itself is part of a divinity that is infinite so why should we enslave men in the midst of such an awesome presence? It's a crime against nature it is! At one point in your lives as merchant sailors I know you all felt this divinity. It is not too late to feel it again. It's in you and it's out there!" he said pointing to the sea.

"The sea lanes are vital to the slave trade as you know. No one knows that more than us. It is not too late to reject the high wages you receive, the thirty pieces of silver paid to betray your fellow man. It is not too late to refuse to become a part of the evil trade in human beings. Slave ships must cease to run - they are illegal in the United States of America and in other countries. Men save yourselves and your souls and abide by the law.

"Slavery is as much a disease of modern life as it was in antiquity and it runs dead against the idea of a free America. No man of courage would permit another to be enslaved. Land bound men seek out social intercourse and ceaseless activity to stave off the feeling of remoteness and isolation and, unlike you all, are afraid to plumb the infinite depths and heights that confront one eventually at sea. You love your freedom and to you it is life itself so why do you chain up your fellow men and deny them any freedom at all? Slavery is driven by greed, profit and a contempt for others because they seem different. A man enslaves others partly to make himself important. He fears seeing his own un-importance; fears seeing as small his own unimportant part in the great drama. Slavery is a crutch in our southern society. Many, who don't own slaves, say, "My life might be bad but I'm much better off than the Negro slaves."