University of Virginia Library

ARTICLE XXIX.

Gloucester.—No. 3. History of Selim, the Algerine Convert.

The following article was written by the Rev. Benjamin H. Rice.
The addition is from a descendant of Mr. Page, of Rosewell:—

THE CONVERTED ALGERINE.

The following narrative was committed to writing by an aged
clergyman in Virginia, and is communicated for publication by a
missionary of known character. Its authenticity may be relied on.
It is introduced by the writer with the following paragraphs:—

I have long been of opinion that even the short account I am able
to give of Selim, the Algerine, is worth preserving, and suppose that
no person now living is able to give so full an account of him as
myself, not having the same means of information.

Had Selim ever recovered his reason so far as to be able to
write his own history and give an account of all the tender and
interesting circumstances of his story, it would undoubtedly have
been one of the most moving narratives to be met with. All I
can write is the substance of the story as related to me, most of
it many years ago. I have been careful to relate every particular
circumstance I could recollect worthy of notice, and make
no additions and very few reflections of my own. I publish
these narratives at this time for the sake of a few observations
which they naturally suggest, and which I think seasonable at the
present day.

About the close of the war between France and England in
Virginia, commonly called Braddock's War, a certain man, whose
name, as I have been informed, was Samuel Givins, then an inhabitant
of Augusta county, in Virginia, went into the woods back of
the settlements to hunt wild meat for the support of his family,—
a practice which necessity renders customary for the settlers of a
new country. He took more than one horse with him, that it
might be in his power to bring home his meat and skins. As he
was one day ranging the woods in quest of game, he cast his eyes
into the top of a large fallen tree, where he saw a living creature

move. Supposing it to be some kind of a wild beast, he made
ready to shoot it, but had no sooner obtained a distinct view than
he discovered a human shape, which prevented the fatal discharge.
Going to the place, he found a man in a most wretched and pitiable
condition,—his person entirely naked (except a few rags tied about
his feet) and almost covered over with scabs, quite emaciated and
nearly famished to death. The man was unacquainted with the English
language, and Givins knew no other. No information, therefore,
could be obtained who he was, whence he came, or how he was
brought into a state so truly distressing. Givins, however, with
the kindness of the good Samaritan, took a tender care of him,
and supplied his emaciated body with the best nourishment his
present circumstances would afford. He prudently gave him but
little at a time, and increased the quantity as his strength and the
power of digestion increased. In a few days the man recovered
such a degree of strength as to be able to ride on horseback.
Givins furnished him with one of those he had taken with him to
carry home his meat, and conducted him to Captain (afterward
Colonel) Dickerson's, who then lived near the Windy Cave. Dickerson
supplied his wants, and entertained him for some months with a
generosity that is more common with rough backwoodsmen, who
are acquainted with the hardships of life, than among the opulent
sons of luxury and ease.

The poor man considered that he had no way to make himself
and his complicated distresses known, without the help of language:
he therefore resolved to make himself acquainted with the
English tongue as soon as possible. In this his progress was surprising:
he procured pen, ink, and paper, and spent much of his
time in writing down remarkable and important words, pronouncing
them, and getting whoever was present to correct his pronunciation.
By his indefatigable application, and the kind assistance of Colonel
Dickerson's family, he in a few months was so far master of English
as to speak it with considerable propriety. When he found
himself sufficiently qualified for communicating his ideas, he gave
the colonel and others a most moving narrative of his various
unparalleled misfortunes. He said his name was Selim; that he
was born of wealthy and respectable parents in Algiers; that when
a small boy his parents sent him to Constantinople, with a view to
have him liberally educated there; and that after he had spent
several years in that city, in pursuit of learning, he returned to
Africa to see his parents, with a view to return to Constantinople
to finish his education. The ship in which he embarked was taken

by a Spanish man-of-war or privateer, and Selim thus became a
prisoner of war. The Spaniards were at this time in alliance with
France against England. Falling in with a French ship bound to
New Orleans, they put him on board this vessel, which carried him
to the place of its destination. After living some time among the
French at New Orleans, they sent him up the rivers Mississippi
and Ohio to the Shawnee towns, and left him a prisoner of war
with the Indians, who at that time lived near the Ohio. There
was at the same time a white woman, who had been taken from the
frontiers of Virginia, a prisoner with the same tribe of Indians.
Selim inquired of her, by signs, whence she came. The woman
answered by pointing directly toward the sunrising. He was so
far acquainted with the geography of America as to know that
there were English settlements on the eastern shore of this continent;
and he rightly supposed the woman had been taken prisoner
from some of them. Having received this imperfect information,
he resolved to attempt an escape from the Indians to some of these
settlements. This was a daring attempt, for he was an entire
stranger to the distance he would have to travel and the dangers
which lay in his way; he had no pilot but the sun, nor any provisions
for his journey,—nor gun, ammunition, or other means of
obtaining them. Being thus badly provided for, and under all
these discouraging circumstances, he set out on his arduous journey
through an unknown mountainous wilderness of several hundred
miles. Not knowing the extent of the settlements he aimed at, he
apprehended danger of missing them should he turn much to the
north or south, and therefore resolved to keep as directly to the
sunrising as he possibly could, whatever rivers or mountains might
obstruct his path. Through all these difficulties Selim travelled
on until the few clothes he had were torn to pieces by bushes,
thorns, and briers. These, when thus torn and fit for no other
service, he wrapped and tied about his feet to defend them from
injuries. Thus he travelled naked, until his skin was torn to
pieces with briers and thorns, his body emaciated, his strength exhausted
with hunger and fatigue, and his spirits sunk under discouragements.
All he had to strengthen and cheer him was a few
nuts and berries he gathered by the way, and the distant prospect
of once more seeing his native land. But this pleasing prospect
could animate him no longer, nor could these scanty provisions
support him. His strength failed, and he sank into despair of
every thing but ending a miserable life in a howling wilderness, surrounded
by wild beasts! Finding he could travel no farther, he
fixed upon the top of the tree where Givins found him, as the spot
where his sorrows and his life must end together. But God, whose
providence is over all his creatures, had other views. While Selim
was dying this lingering, painful death, and was scarce able to move
his feeble limbs, relief was sent him by the beneficent hand of
Givins: he is again restored to life, and hope once more revives
and animates his sinking heart. No doubt Colonel Dickerson was
sensibly touched with this moving tale of woe, and the generous
feelings of his humanity greatly increased. I infer it from his
conduct; for he furnished Selim with a horse to ride, treated him
as a companion, and took him to visit the neighbours and see the
country. He accompanied the colonel to Staunton, where the
court of Augusta county sat, and where the inhabitants of the
county were assembled, it being court-day. Among the rest was
the Rev. John Craig, a Presbyterian minister of the Gospel, who
resided a few miles from town. When Selim saw Mr. Craig he
was struck with his appearance, turned his particular attention to
him, and after some time came and spoke to him, and intimated a
desire to go home with him. Mr. Craig welcomed him to his
house, and then, or afterward, asked him why he desired to go
home with him in particular, being an entire stranger, whom he had
never seen before. Selim replied:—

"When I was in my distress, I once in my sleep dreamed that I
was in my own country, and saw in my dream the largest assembly of
men my eyes had ever beheld, collected in a wide plain, all dressed
in uniform and drawn up in military order. At the farther side
of the plain, and almost at an immense distance, I saw a person
whom I understood to be one of great distinction; but, by reason
of the vast distance he was from me, I could not discern what sort
of a person he was. I only knew him to be a person of great eminence.
I saw every now and then one or two of this large assembly
attempting to go across the plain to this distinguished
personage; but when they had got about half-way over, they
suddenly dropped into a hole in the earth, and I saw them no
more. I also imagined that I saw an old man standing by himself,
at a distance from this large assembly, and one or two of the multitude
applied to him for direction how to cross the plain in safety;
and all who received and followed it got safe across. As soon as
I saw you," added Selim, "I knew you to be the man who gave
these directions; and this has convinced me that it is the mind of
God that I should apply to you for instructions in religion. It is
for this reason I desire to go home with you. When I was among

the French, they endeavoured to prevail on me to embrace the
Christian religion. But, as I observed they made use of images in
their religious worship, I looked on Christianity with abhorrence;
such worship being, in my opinion, idolatrous."

Mr. Craig cheerfully undertook the agreeable work he seemed
called to by an extraordinary Providence. He soon found that
Selim understood the Greek language, which greatly facilitated the
business. He furnished a Greek Testament; Selim spent his time
cheerfully in reading it, and Mr. Craig his leisure hours in explaining
to him the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In the space of about two
weeks he obtained what Mr. Craig esteemed a competent knowledge
of the Christian religion. He went to Mr. Craig's house of worship,
made a public profession of Christianity, and was baptized
in the name of the adorable Trinity. Some time after this, Selim
informed Mr. Craig that he was desirous to return to his native
country and once more see his parents and friends. Mr. Craig
reminded him that his friends and countrymen, being Mohammedans,
entertained strong prejudices against the Christian religion, and
that, as he now professed to be a Christian, he would probably be
used ill on that account, and that here in America he might enjoy
his religion without disturbance. To which Selim replied, that his
father was a man of good estate, and he was his heir; that he had
never been brought up to labour, and knew no possible way in
which he could obtain a subsistence; that he could not bear the
thought of living a life of dependence upon strangers and being a
burden to them; that he was sensible of the strong prejudices of
his friends against Christianity, yet could not think that, after all
the calamities he had undergone, his father's religious prejudices
would so far get the better of his humanity as to cause him to use
his son ill on that account; and that, at all events, he desired to
make the experiment. Mr. Craig urged that the favourable
regards of his friends and a good estate on the one hand, and a
life of poverty and distress on the other, might prove a too powerful
temptation to renounce that religion he now professed to believe
true, and to return again to Mohammedanism. Selim said, whatever
the event might be, he was resolved never to deny Jesus.

When Mr. Craig found that he was fully resolved, he applied to
some of his neighbours, and, with their assistance, furnished Selim
with as much money as they supposed sufficient to defray his expenses
to England, from whence he said he could easily get a
passage to Africa. He furnished him, also, with a letter to the
Hon. Robert Carter, who then lived in Williamsburg and was

noted for his beneficence to the poor and afflicted, requesting him
to procure for the bearer an agreeable passage in some ship bound
to England. Mr. Carter did more than was requested of him: he
furnished Selim plentifully with sea-stores. Being thus provided
for, he set sail for England, with the flattering prospect before him
of being once more happy in his own country and in the arms of
his affectionate parents. For many months no more is heard of
him by his American acquaintance.

How long after this I do not recollect,—perhaps some years,—
the poor unfortunate Selim returned again to Virginia in a state
of insanity. He came to Williamsburg, and to the house of his
old benefactor, Mr. Carter. His constant complaint was, that he
had no friend, and where should he find a friend? From which
complaint the cause of his present very pitiable situation was
easily conjectured: his father was not his friend. Notwithstanding
the derangement of his mental powers, he had certain lucid intervals,
in which he so far enjoyed his reason as to be able to give
a pretty distinct account of his adventures after he left Virginia.
He said he had a speedy and safe passage to England, and from
thence to Africa; and that, on his arrival, he found his parents
still alive, but that it was not in his power long to conceal it from
them that he had renounced Mohammedanism and embraced the
Christian religion, and that his father no sooner found this to be
the case than he disowned him as a child and turned him out
of his house. Affection for his parents, grief for their religious
prejudices and his own temporal ruin, tormented his tender
heart. He was now turned out into the world, without money,
without a friend, without any art by which he could obtain a subsistence.
He left his own country, the estate on which he expected
to spend his life, and all his natural connections, without
the most distant prospect of ever seeing or enjoying them more.
He went to England, in hopes of there finding some way to live,
where he could enjoy his religion when every other source of comfort
was dried up. But, having no friend to introduce him to the
pious and benevolent, he found no way to subsist in that country;
on which he resolved to return to America, it being a new country,
where the poor could more easily find the means of support. In
his passage to Virginia—while he had probably no pious friend to
console him in his distresses nor to encourage and support him
under them, and while he had little to do but pore over his wretched
situation—he sunk, under the weight of his complicated calamities,
into a state of insanity.

Though Selim's great distress was that he had no friend and
he was constantly roving about in quest of one, yet of friendship
he was incapable of enjoying the advantages. In pursuit of his
object he went up to Colonel Dickerson's, but to no purpose.
From thence he wandered away to the Warm Springs, where was
at that time a young clergyman of the name of Templeton, who,
having understood something of his history, entered into conversation
with him. He asked him, among other things, whether he
was acquainted with the Greek language; to which he modestly
replied that he understood a little of it. Mr. Templeton put a
Greek Testament into his hand, and asked him to read and construe
some of it. He took the book and opened it, and, when he
saw what it was, in a transport of joy he pressed it to his heart,
and then complied with Mr. Templeton's request. By these
actions he showed his great veneration for the Sacred Scriptures,
and how long he had retained the knowledge of the Greek in circumstances
the most unfavourable. From the Warm Springs he
went down to Mr. Carter's, (who, by this time, had removed from
Williamsburg to his seat in Westmoreland county,) in hopes that
gentleman would act the part of a friend, as he had formerly
done; but still, poor man, he was incapable of enjoying what he
greatly needed and most desired. He soon wandered away from
Mr. Carter's, was taken, and carried to the madhouse in Williamsburg.

The above account I received from Mr. Craig, Mr. Carter, and
Mr. Templeton; and it is the substance of all I knew of Selim
before I came to reside in this State. Since my arrival here I
have seen several men who were personally acquainted with him
while in a state of derangement. They say he was commonly inoffensive
in his behaviour, grateful for favours received, manifested
a veneration for religion, was frequently engaged in prayer,—that
his prayers were commonly, though not always, pretty sensible
and tolerably well connected,—and that he appeared to have the
temper and behaviour of a gentleman, though he was in ruins;
that he went roving from place to place, sometimes almost naked
for want of sense to keep on the clothes that he had received
from the hand of charity, until he was taken with the sickness
which put an end to his sorrows; that when he was taken sick his
reason was restored and continued to his last moments; that the
family where he lay sick and died treated him with great tenderness,
for which he expressed the utmost gratitude, and that, at his
request and importunity, no persons sat up with him on the night

in which he died. It appears, however, that he died with great
composure; for he placed himself, his hands, his feet, and his
whole body, in a proper posture to be laid in his coffin, and so
expired.

The following is added by a descendant of Mr. Page:—

The picture of Selim may still be seen in the library of Mr.
Robert Saunders, of Williamsburg. Mr. Saunders married a
daughter of Governor Page, and thus inherited it. Selim, out of
his attachment to Mr. Page, either followed or went with him to
Philadelphia, where the American Congress was sitting, of which
Mr. Page was a member. Mr. Peale was then a most eminent
painter.