This incredible story is found in the pages of The Book of Shipwrecks, Narratives of Maritime Discoveries, and the Most Popular Voyages, which was published in Boston in 1840. I relate it as it is described therein. Specific dates and names have been omitted, not by myself, but by the original author, who was a witness to the events. This discretion seems to be consistent with the regular practice of the era.
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We will relate the terrible loss of the ship Kent, which sailed from the Downs on February 19, 1825. As a so-called East Indiaman (a merchant vessel trading with the East Indies), the Kent was bound for Bengal in India, and then China. She was a ship of 1,350 tons, and aboard her were 344 soldiers, 20 officers, 43 women, 66 children, 20 civilian passengers, and a crew of 148 men. The sum of these numbers comes to a total of 641.
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In the 1998 film Fallen, one of the characters intones an ominous motto: “What goes around, really goes around.” This is a more emphatic version of the old adage, “What comes around, goes around.” In both cases the meaning is the same: he who spreads iniquity and evil, will eventually be himself visited by iniquities and evils of even greater magnitude.
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We often underestimate the ease with which terrible disasters can accompany our efforts and enterprises. Vigilance tends to lapse with routine; and with time, even the most dangerous cargoes may begin to look benign. Any nation wishing to handle nuclear materials enters a kind of pact with the devil: in return for power and prestige, it can never forget what it is dealing with, and it can never let its guard down. Two lines from the Roman poet Lucan (Pharsalia IX.1020) expresses this idea well:
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Philosophers and theologians have often pondered whether, or to what extent, wicked deeds are punished within the lifetime of a malefactor. Some maintain that the consequences of evil actions can never be avoided, and that, sooner or later, divine retribution will be visited upon him who offends the gods of justice. Others take a different position, and hold that punishment for the commission of foul acts is a purely random occurrence. Some men, they say, arrive at their appointment with Fate, while others seem to lead charmed lives, escaping justice while walking through life’s raindrops. As for which view is correct, no man can know. For my own part I tend to subscribe to the belief that wicked deeds always exact a certain price from their authors. That price may be postponed, or deferred, or placed in arrears, or hidden from the view of others; but the levy nevertheless weighs on the soul of the malefactor, and steadily corrodes it from within.
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In 1822, Alexander Garden, an aide-de-camp of Major General Nathanael Greene, published a fascinating work titled Anecdotes of the Revolutionary War in America, With Sketches in Character. Some of the stories contained in the volume are based on Garden’s own experiences, or were conveyed to him personally by veterans of the conflict. Out of a great many fascinating and forgotten morsels, I have selected two for the reader’s enjoyment.
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A touching example of battlefield chivalry is found in the august pages of Alexander Garden’s Anecdotes of the Revolutionary War in America. This forgotten work, through interviews with veterans and knowledgeable parties, was published in 1822, and compiles a great number of stories connected with the war and its combatants. One of them we will present here.
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Enthusiasts of the history of science are familiar with the ingenious method used by the ancient Greek scientist Eratosthenes to measure the Earth’s circumference. Briefly described, he measured the angle of a shadow cast by a stake driven into the ground at midday in the Egyptian city of Alexandria. He compared this to the fact that, at the same time, a stake located far to the south at Cyene, Egypt cast no shadow at all. Knowing from geometry that alternate interior angels are equal, he was able to calculate the number of degrees on the Earth’s spherical surface between Cyene and Alexandria, and from this, to produce a number for the sphere’s circumference.
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Enthusiasts of sea tales and true crime stories will find much to ponder in the horrific account of the ordeal of Terry Jo Duperrault aboard the Bluebelle. The story is a relatively recent one, and has been told before. But since many readers may be unfamiliar with the episode, I believe it is worth recounting here again. In the annals of maritime crime, few incidents can equal it in sheer depravity and cold-blooded calculation.
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It can often be instructive, in the study of history, to play the intriguing game of “what if?” We are inclined to believe in the inevitability of historical events, simply because things turned out as they did; yet we tend to forget that different decisions might have produced very different outcomes. Thought experiments also help us to review those timeless principles of leadership and morals that may be applicable to our own lives. Let us, then, review Hannibal’s decision not to march on Rome in the immediate wake of his shattering victory at Cannae in August of 216 B.C.
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Quintus Curtius 
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