Diary in America Volume II Part 10

"We avail ourselves of the opportunity this number affords of upholding the poor author's right, of censuring the greedy spoliation of publis.h.i.+ng tribe, who would live, batten, and fatten upon the despoiled labours of those whom their piracy starves--s.n.a.t.c.hing the scanty crust from their needy mouths to pamper their own insatiate maws.

"This matter lies between the publisher and the author. The author claims a right to his own productions, wherever they may be. The publishers, like the Cornwall wreckers, say no, the moment your labours touch our fatal sh.o.r.e they are ours; you have no right to them, no t.i.tle in them. Good heavens! shall such a cruel despoliation be permitted!

The publishers, with consummate cunning, turn to the public, and virtually say, support us in our theft, and we will share the spoil with you; we will give you standard works at a price immeasurably below their value. As well might a thief, brought before the honest and worthy recorder say: If your honour will wink at the crime, you will make me a public benefactor, for whilst I rob one man of an hundred watches, I can sell them to an hundred persons for one-third of their prime cost; and thus injure one and benefit a hundred, you shall have one very cheap.

What would this recorder say? He would say, the crime is apparent, and I spurn with indignation and contempt your offer to part with to me that which is not your own. And should not this be the reply of the public to the publishers? Yes, and it will be too. And the vampires who have so long lived upon the spirits of authors, will have tax their own to yield themselves support."

Note 3. I ought here to remark, that the authors are much injured by the present system. It having been satisfactorily proved, that a three-volume work is the only one that can be published at the minimum of expense, and the magnum of profits, no publisher likes to publish any other. There is the same expense in advertising, etcetera, a two volume, or a one octavo book, as a three. The author, therefore, has to spin out to three volumes, whether he has matter or not; and that is the reason why the second volume, like the fourth act of a five act play, is, generally speaking, so very heavy. Publishers, now-a-days, measure works with a foot-rule, as the critic did in Sterne.

Note 4. The members of the peerage and baronetage of Great Britain, the members of the unt.i.tled aristocracy--the staff officers of the army and navy--the members of the different clubs--are each of them sufficiently numerous to effect this object; and if any subscription was opened, it could not fail of being filled up.

Note 5. One of those works was Abbot's 'Young Christian', or some other work by that author.

Note 6. Indeed, one cannot help being reminded of what Beaumarchais makes Figaro say upon the liberty of the press in another country. "On me dit que pendant ma retraite economique il s'est etabli dans Madrid un systeme de liberte sur la vente des productions, qui s'etend meme a celles de la presse; et, pourvu que je parle dans mes ecrits, ni de l'autorite, ni du culte, ni de la politique, ni de la morale, ni des gens en place, ni des corps en credit, ni de l'opera, ni des autres spectacles, ni de personne qui tient a quelque chose, je puis tout imprimer _librement_; sous l'inspection de _deux ou trois censeurs_."

VOLUME ONE, CHAPTER EIGHT.

THE MISSISSIPPI.

I have headed this chapter with the name of the river which flows between the princ.i.p.al States in which the society I am about to depict is to be found; but, at the same time, there are other southern States, such as Alabama and Georgia, which must be included. I shall attempt to draw the line as clearly as I can, for although the territory comprehended is enormous, the population is not one-third of that of the United States, and it would be a great injustice if the description of the society I am about to enter into should be supposed to refer to that of the States in general. It is indeed most peculiar, and arising frow circ.u.mstances which will induce me to refer back, that the causes may be explained to the reader. Never, perhaps, in the records of nations was there an instance of a century of such unvarying and unmitigated crime as is to be collected from the history of the turbulent and blood-stained Mississippi. The stream itself appears as if appropriate for the deeds which have been committed. It is not like most rivers, beautiful to the sight, bestowing fertility in its course; not one that the eye loves to dwell upon as it sweeps along, nor can you wander on its bank, or trust yourself without danger to its stream. It is a furious, rapid, desolating torrent, loaded with alluvial soil; and few of those who are received into its waters ever rise again, or can support themselves long on its surface without a.s.sistance from some friendly log. It contains the coa.r.s.est and most uneatable of fish, such as the cat-fish and such genus, and, as you descend, its banks are occupied with the fetid alligator, while the panther basks at its edge in the cane-brakes, almost impervious to man. Pouring its impetuous waters through wild tracks, covered with trees of little value except for firewood, it sweeps down whole forests in its course, which disappear in tumultuous confusion, whirled away by the stream now loaded with the ma.s.ses of soil which nourished their roots, often blocking up and changing for a time the channel of the river, which, as if in anger at its being opposed, inundates and devastates the whole country round; and as soon as it forces its way through its former channel, plants in every direction the uprooted monarchs of the forest (upon whose branches the bird will never again perch, or the rac.o.o.n, the opossum or the squirrel, climb) as traps to the adventurous navigators of its waters by steam, who, borne down upon these concealed dangers which pierce through the planks, very often have not time to steer for and gain the sh.o.r.e before they sink to the bottom. There are no pleasing a.s.sociations connected with the great common sewer of the western America, which pours out its mud into the Mexican Gulf, polluting the clear blue sea for many miles beyond its mouth. It is a river of desolation; and instead of reminding you, like other beautiful rivers, of an angel which has descended for the benefit of man, you imagine it a devil, whose energies have been only overcome by the wonderful power of steam.

The early history of the Mississippi is one of piracy and buccaneering; its mouths were frequented by these marauders, as in the bayous and creeks they found protection and concealment for themselves and their ill-gotten wealth. Even until after the war of 1814 these sea-robbers still to a certain extent flourished, and the name of Lafitte, the last of their leaders, is deservedly renowned for courage and for crime; his vessels were usually secreted in the land-locked bay of Barataria, to the westward of the mouth of the river. They were, however, soon extirpated by the American government. The language of the adjacent States is still adulterated with the slang of those scoundrels, proving how short a period it is since they disappeared, and how they must have mixed up with the reckless population, whose head-quarters were then at the mouth of the river.

But as the hunting-grounds of Western Virginia, Kentucky, and the northern banks of the Ohio, were gradually wrested from the Shawnee Indians, the population became more dense, and the Mississippi itself became the means of communication and of barter with the more northern tribes. Then another race of men made their appearance, and flourished for half a century, varying indeed in employment, but in other respects little better than the buccaneers and pirates, in whose ranks they were probably first enlisted. These were the boatmen of the Mississippi, who with incredible fatigue forced their "keels" with poles against the current, working against the stream with the cargoes entrusted to their care by the merchants of New Orleans, labouring for many months before they arrive at their destination, and returning with the rapid current in as many days as it required weeks for them to ascend. This was a service of great danger and difficulty, requiring men of iron frame and undaunted resolution: they had to contend not only with the stream, but, when they ascended the Ohio, with the Indians, who, taking up the most favourable positions, either poured down the contents of their rifles into the boat as she pa.s.sed; or, taking advantage of the dense fog, boarded them in their canoes, indiscriminate slaughter being the invariable result of the boatmen having allowed themselves to be surprised. In these men was to be found, as there often is in the most unprincipled, one redeeming quality (independent of courage and perseverance), which was, that they were, generally speaking, unscrupulously honest to their employers, although they made little ceremony of appropriating to their own use the property, or, if necessary, of taking the life any other parties. Wild, indeed, are the stories which are still remembered of the deeds of courage, and also of the fearful crimes committed by these men, on a river which never gives up its dead. I say still remembered, for in a new country they readily forget the past, and only look forward to the future, whereas in an old country the case is nearly the reverse--we love to recur to tradition, and luxuriate in the dim records of history.

The following description of the employment of this cla.s.s of people is from the pen of an anonymous American author:--

"There is something inexplicable in the fact, there could be men found, for ordinary wages, who would abandon the systematic but not laborious pursuits of agriculture to follow a life, of all others except that of the soldier, distinguished by the greatest exposure and privation. The occupation of a boatman was more calculated to destroy the const.i.tution and to shorten life than any other business. In ascending the river it was a continued series of toil, rendered more irksome by the snail-like rate at which they moved. The boat was propelled by poles, against which the shoulder was placed, and the whole strength and skill of the individual were applied in this manner. As the boatmen moved along the running board, with their heads nearly touching the plank on which they walked, the effect produced on the mind of an observer was similar to that on beholding the ox rocking before an overloaded cart. Their bodies, naked to their waist for the purpose of moving with greater ease and of enjoying the breeze of the river, were exposed to the burning suns of summer and to the rains of autumn. After a hard day's push they would take their 'fillee,' or ration of whisky, and, having swallowed a miserable supper of meat half burnt, and of bread half baked, stretched themselves, without covering, on the deck, and slumber till the steersman's call invited them to the morning 'fillee.' Notwithstanding this, the boatman's life had charms as irresistible as those presented by the splendid illusions of the stage. Sons abandoned the comfortable farms of their fathers, and apprentices fled from the service of their masters. There was a captivation in the idea of 'going down the river,'

and the 'youthful boatman who had pushed a keel' from New Orleans felt all the pride of a young merchant after his first voyage to an English sea-port. From an exclusive a.s.sociation together they had formed a kind of slang peculiar to themselves; and from the constant exercise of wit with the squatters on sh.o.r.e, and crews of other boats, they acquired a quickness and smartness of vulgar retort that was quite amusing. The frequent battles they were engaged in with the boatmen of different parts of the river, and with the less civilised inhabitants of the lower Ohio and Mississippi, invested them with that furious reputation which has made them spoken of throughout Europe.

"On board of the boats thus navigated our merchants entrusted valuable cargoes, without insurance, and with no other guarantee than the receipt of the steersman, who possessed no property but his boat; and the confidence so reposed was seldom abused."

Every cla.s.s of men has its hero, as those always will be, who, from energy of character and natural endowment, are superior to their fellows. The most remarkable person among these people was one _Mike Fink_, who was their acknowledged leader for many years. His fame was established from New Orleans to Pittsburg. He was endowed with gigantic strength, courage, and presence of mind--his rifle was unerring, and his conscience never troubled his repose. Every one was afraid of him; every one was anxious to be on good terms with him, for he was a regular freebooter; and although he spared his friends, he gave no quarter to the lives or properties of others. Mike Fink was not originally a boatmen: at an early age he had enlisted in the company of scouts, another variety of employment produced by circ.u.mstances--a species of solitary rangers employed by the American government, and acting as spies, to watch the motions of the Indians on the frontiers. This peculiar service is thus described by the author I have before quoted:--

"At that time, Pittsburg was on the extreme verge of white population, and the spies, who were constantly employed, generally extended their _reconnaissance_ forty or fifty miles to the west of this post. They went out singly, lived as did the Indian, and in every respect became perfectly a.s.similated in habits, taste, and feeling, with the red men of the desert. A kind of border warfare was kept up, and the scout thought it as praiseworthy to bring in the scalp of a Shawnee, as the skin of a panther. He would remain in the woods for weeks together, using parched corn for bread, and depending on his rifle for his meat--and slept at night in perfect comfort, rolled in his blanket."

In this service Mike Fink acquired a great reputation for coolness and courage, and many are the stories told of his adventures with the Indians. It has been incontestably proved, that the white man, when accustomed to the woods, is much more acute than the Indian himself in that woodcraft of every species, in which the Indian is supposed to be such an adept; such as discovering a trail by the print of a moca.s.sin, by the breaking of twigs, laying of the gra.s.s, etcetera, and in the practice of the rifle he is very superior. As a proof of Fink's dexterity with his rifle, he is said one day, as they were descending the Ohio in their boat, to have laid a wager, and won it, that he would from mid-stream with his rifle b.a.l.l.s cut off at the stumps the tails of five pigs which were feeding on the banks. One story relative to Mike Fink, when he was employed as a scout, will be interesting to the reader.

"As he was creeping along one morning, with the stealthy tread of a cat, his eye fell upon a beautiful buck browsing on the edge of a barren spot, three hundred yards distant. The temptation was too strong for the woodsman, and he resolved to have a shot at every hazard. Repriming his gun, and picking his flint, he made his approaches in the usual noiseless manner. But the moment he reached the spot from which he meant to take his aim, he observed a large savage, intent upon the same object, advancing from a direction a little different from his own.

Mike shrunk behind a tree with the quickness of thought, and keeping his eye fixed on the hunter, waited the result with patience. In a few moments the Indian halted within fifty paces, and levelled his piece at the deer. In the meanwhile Mike presented his rifle at the body of the savage, and at the moment the smoke issued from the gun of the latter, the bullet of Fink pa.s.sed through the red man's breast. He uttered a yell, and fell dead at the same instant with the deer. Mike re-loaded his rifle, and remained in his covert for some minutes to ascertain whether there were more enemies at hand. He then stepped up to the prostrate savage, and having satisfied himself that life was extinguished, turned his attention to the buck, and took from the carcase those pieces suited to the process of jerking."

As the country filled up the Indians retreated, and the corps of scouts was abolished: but after a life of excitement in the woods, they were unfitted for a settled occupation. Some of them joined the Indians, others, and among them Mike Finn, enrolled themselves among the fraternity of boatmen on the Mississippi.

The death of Mike Fink was befitting his life. One of his very common exploits with his rifle was. .h.i.tting for a wager, at thirty yards distance, a small tin pot, used by the boatmen, which was put on the head of another man. Such was his reputation, that no one hardly objected to being placed in this precarious situation. It is even said that his wife, that is, his _Mississippi_ wife, was accustomed to stand the fire; this feat was always performed for a wager of a quart of spirits, made by some stranger, and was a source of obtaining the necessary supplies. One day the wager was made as usual, and a man with whom Mike had at one time been at variance (although the feud was now supposed to have been forgotten) was the party who consented that the pot should be placed on his head. Whether it was that Mike was not quite sober, or that he retained his ill-will towards the man, certain it is, that in this instance, instead of his. .h.i.tting the mark, his bullet went below it and through the brain of the man, who instantly fell dead; but his brother, who was standing by, and probably suspecting treachery, had his loaded rifle in his hand, levelled, fired, and in a second the soul of Mike was despatched after that of his victim.

Here ended the history of Mike Fink, Esq.

The invention of the steam-engine, and its application to nautical purposes, deprived the boatmen of employment; they were again thrown upon their own resources, and as it may be supposed, did not much a.s.sist in the amelioration of Mississippi society. The country gradually increased its population, but as a majority of those who migrated were of the worst description, being composed of those who had fled from the more settled States to escape the punishment due to their crimes, it may be said, that so far from improving, the morals of the Mississippi became worse, as the mean and paltry knave, the swindler, and the forger were now mingled up with the more daring spirits, producing a more complicated and varied cla.s.s of crime than before. The steam-boats were soon crowded by a description of people who were termed gamblers, as such was their ostensible profession, although they were ready for any crime which might offer an advantage to them, [see note 1] and the increase of commerce and constant inpouring of populations daily offer to them some new dupe for their villainy. The state of society was much worse than before--the knife was subst.i.tuted for the rifle, and the river buried many a secret of atrocious murder. To prove the extent to which these deeds of horror were perpetrated, I shall give to the English reader, in as succinct a form as I can, the history of John Murel, the land pirate, as he was termed. There is an octavo volume, published in the United States, giving a whole statement of the affair; it was not until the year 1833 that it was exposed, and Murel sent to the Penitentiary. Murel was at the head of a large band, who had joined under his directions, for the purposes of stealing horses and negroes in the southern States, and of pa.s.sing counterfeit money. He appears to have been a most dexterous as well as consummate villain. When he travelled, his usual disguise was that of an itinerant preacher; and it is said that his discourses were very "soul moving"--interesting the hearers so much that they forgot to look after their horses, which were carried away by his confederates while he was preaching. But the stealing of horses in one State, and selling them in another, was but a small portion of their business; the most lucrative was the enticing slaves to run away from their masters, that they might sell them in some other quarter. This was arranged as follows; they would tell a negro that if he would run away from his master, and allow them to sell him, he should receive a portion of the money paid for him, and that upon his return to them a second time they would send him to a free State, where he would be safe. The poor wretches complied with this request, hoping to obtain money and freedom; they would be sold to another master, and run away again to their employers; sometimes they would be sold in this manner three or four times until they had realised three or four thousand dollars by them; but as, after this, there was fear of detection, the usual custom was to get rid of the only witness that could be produced against them, which was the negro himself, by murdering him, and throwing his body into the Mississippi. Even if it was established that they had stolen a negro before he was murdered, they were always prepared to evade punishment, for they concealed the negro who had run away until he was advertised, and a reward offered to any man who would catch him. An advertis.e.m.e.nt of this kind warrants the person to take the property, if found, and then the negro becomes a property in trust. When, therefore, they sold the negro, it only became a breach of trust, not stealing; and for a breach of trust, the owner of the property can only have redress by a civil action, which was useless, as the damages were never paid. It may be inquired, how it was that Murel escaped Lynch law under such circ.u.mstances? This will be easily understood when it is stated that he had more than a thousand sworn confederates, all ready at a moment's notice to support any of the gang who might be in trouble. The names of all the princ.i.p.al confederates of Murel were obtained from himself, in a manner which I shall presently explain. The gang was composed of two cla.s.ses: the heads or council, as they were called, who planned and concerted but seldom acted; they amounted to about four hundred. The other cla.s.s were the active agents, and were termed Strikers, and amounted to about six hundred and fifty.

These were the tools in the hands of the others; they ran all the risk, and received but a small proportion of the money; they were in the power of the leaders of the gang, who would sacrifice them at any time by handing them over to justice, or sinking their bodies in the Mississippi. The general rendezvous of this gang of miscreants was on the Arkansaw side of the river, where they concealed their negroes in the mora.s.ses and cane-brakes.

The depredations of this extensive combination were severely felt: but so well were their plans arranged, that although Murel, who was always active, was everywhere suspected, there was no proof to be obtained. It so happened, however, that a young man of the name of Stewart, who was looking after two slaves which Murel had decoyed away, fell in with him and obtained his confidence, took the oath, and was admitted into the gang as one of the general council. By this means all was discovered; for Stewart turned traitor, although he had taken the oath, and, having obtained every information, exposed the whole concern, the names of all the parties, and finally succeeded in bringing home sufficient evidence against Murel, to procure his conviction and sentence to the Penitentiary; where he now is. (Murel was sentenced to fourteen years'

imprisonment, but as he will, upon the expiration of his time, be immediately prosecuted and sentenced again for similar deeds in other States, he will remain imprisoned for life). So many people who were supposed to be honest, and bore a respectable name in the different States, were found to be among the list of the Grand Council as published by Stewart, that every attempt was made to throw discredit upon his a.s.sertions--his character was vilified, and more than one attempt was made to a.s.sa.s.sinate him. He was obliged to quit the Southern States in consequence. It is, however, now well ascertained to have been all true; and although some blame Mr Stewart for having violated his oath, they no longer attempt to deny that his revelations were not correct. To understand, to the full amount, the enormities committed by this miscreant and his gang, the reader must read the whole account published at New York; I will however just quote one or two portions of Murel's confessions to Mr Stewart, made to him when they were journeying together. I ought to have observed, that the ultimate intentions of Murel and his a.s.sociates were by his own account on a very extended scale; having no less an object in view than raising the blacks against the whites, taking possession of, and plundering New Orleans, and making themselves possessors of the territory. The following are a few extracts from the published work:--

"I collected all my friends about New Orleans at one of our friend's houses in that place, and we sat in council three days before we got all our plans to our notion; we then determined to undertake the rebellion at every hazard, and make as many friends as we could for that purpose.

Every man's business being a.s.signed him, I started to Natchez on foot, having sold my horse in New Orleans, with the intention of stealing another after I started: I walked four days, and no opportunity offered for me to get a horse. The fifth day, about twelve, I had become tired, and stopped at a creek to get some water and rest a little. While I was sitting on a log, looking down the road the way that I had come, a man came in sight riding on a good-looking horse. The very moment I saw him, I was determined to have his horse, if he was in the garb of a traveller. He rode up, and I saw from his equipage that he was a traveller. I arose from a seat, and drew an elegant rifle pistol on him and ordered him to dismount. He did so, and I took his horse by the bridle and pointed down the creek, and ordered him to walk before me.

He went a few hundred yards and stopped. I hitched his horse, and then made him undress himself, all to his s.h.i.+rt and drawers, and ordered him to turn his back to me. He said, "If you are determined to kill me, let me have time to pray before I die." I told him I had no time to hear him pray. He turned round and dropped on his knees, and I shot him through the back of the head. I ripped open his belly and took out his entrails, and sunk him in the creek. I then searched his pockets, and found four hundred dollars and thirty-seven cents, and a number of papers that I did not take time to examine. I sunk the pocket-book and papers, and his hat, in the creek. His boots were brand new, and fitted me genteelly; and I put them on and sunk my old shoes in the creek, to atone for them. I rolled up his clothes and put them into his portmanteau, as they were brand new cloth of the best quality. I mounted as fine a horse as ever I straddled, and directed my course for Natchez in much better style than I had been for the last five days.

"Myself and a fellow by the name of Crenshaw gathered four good horses and started for Georgia. We got in company with a young South Carolina just before we got to c.u.mberland mountain, and Crenshaw soon knew all about his business. He had been to Tennessee to buy a drove of hogs, but when he got there pork was dearer than he had calculated, and he declined purchasing. We concluded he was a prize. Crenshaw winked at me; I understood his idea. Crenshaw had travelled the road before, but I never had. We had travelled several miles on the mountain, when he pa.s.sed near a great precipice; just before we pa.s.sed it Crenshaw asked me for my whip, which had a pound of lead in the b.u.t.t; I handed it to him, and he rode up by the side of the South Carolinian, and gave him a blow on the side of the head and tumbled him from his horse; we lit from our horses and fingered his pockets; we got twelve hundred and sixty-two dollars. Crenshaw said he knew of a place to hide him, and he gathered him under his arms, and I by his feet, and conveyed him to a deep crevice in the brow of the precipice, and tumbled him into it, he went out of sight; we then tumbled in his saddle, and took his horse with us, which was worth two hundred dollars.

"We were detained a few days, and during that time our friend went to a little village in the neighbourhood and saw the negro advertised, and a description of the two men of whom he had been purchased, and giving his suspicions of the men. It was rather squally times, but any port in a storm: we took the negro that night on the bank of a creek which runs by the farm of our friend, and Crenshaw shot him through the head. We took out his entrails and sunk him in the creek.

"He sold him the third time on Arkansaw river for five hundred dollars; and then stole him and delivered him into the hand of his friend, who conducted him to a swamp, and veiled the tragic scene and got the last gleanings and sacred pledge of secrecy, as a game of that kind will not do unless it ends in a mystery to all but the fraternity. He sold that negro for two thousand dollars, and then put him for ever out of the reach of all pursuers; and they can never graze him unless they can find the negro; and that they cannot do, for his carca.s.s has fed many a tortoise and cat-fish before this time, and the frogs have sung this many a long day to the silent repose of his skeleton."

It will be observed that in the account of his murders, by the cold-blooded villain, whenever he conceals his victim in the water, he takes out the entrails. This is because when the entrails are removed, the body will not rise again to the surface from the generation of gas, occasioned by putrefaction.

As it is but five years since the conviction of Murel, it may be supposed that society cannot be much improved in so short a period. But five years is a long period, as I have before observed in American history; and some improvement has already taken place, as I shall hereafter show; still the state of things at present is most lamentable, as the reader will acknowledge, when he has heard the facts which I have collected.

The two great causes of the present lawless state of society in the South are a mistaken notion of physical courage, and a total want of moral courage. Fiery and choleric in his disposition, intemperate in his habits, and worked upon by the peculiarity of the climate, the Southerner is always ready to enter into a quarrel, and prepared with pistol and Bowie-knife to defend himself. For the latter he cannot well be blamed, for in the present state of things, it is only being prepared in self-defence; but at the same time, the weapons being at hand, is one great cause of such frequent bloodshed. To give the lie, or to use opprobrious language, is considered sufficient justification for using the knife; and as public opinion is on the side of the party who thus retaliates on an affront, there is no appeal to law, as if there was, the majority would never permit the law to be put in force: the consequence is, that if a man is occasionally tried for murder, if any witness will come forward to prove that the party murdered made use of an offensive epithet to the prisoner, (and there are always to be found plenty of people to do this act of kindness,) he is invariably acquitted. The law therefore being impotent, is hardly ever resorted to; every man takes the law into his own hands, and upon the least affront, blood is certain to be shed. Strange to say, I have heard the system of the South defended by very respectable individuals. They say that, taking summary measures at the time that the blood is up, is much preferable to the general custom of fighting a duel the next day, which is murder in cold blood; that this idea is supported by the laws of England is certain, as it resolves murder into manslaughter. But, unfortunately, the argument is not borne out, from the simple fact, that the quarrels do not [go away] with the cooling down of the blood, and if not settled on the spot, they remain as feuds between the parties, and revenge takes the place of anger; years will sometimes pa.s.s away, and the insult or injury is never forgotten; and deliberate, cold-blooded murder is the result; for there is no warning given.

When I was in Kentucky, a man walked up to Mr Prentice, the talented editor of the Louisville Journal, and without a word pa.s.sing, fired a pistol at his head. Fortunately the ball missed him; no notice was taken of this attempt to murder. But I have had many other examples of this kind, for if you quarrel with a person and the affair is not decided at once, it is considered perfectly justifiable to take your revenge whenever you meet him, and in any way you can. An American gentleman told me that he happened to arrive at a town in Georgia with a friend of his, who went with him to the post-office for letters. This person had had a quarrel with another who resided in the town; but they had not met with each other for seven years. The town resident was looking out of his window, when they went to the post-office on the opposite side of the street; he recognised his enemy, and closing his shutters that he might not be seen, pa.s.sed the muzzle of his rifle between them, and shot him dead, as he was with his back to him paying for his letters.

But a more curious instance of this custom was narrated to me by an eye-witness; a certain general had a feud with another person, and it was perfectly understood that they were to fight when they met. It so happened, that the general had agreed to dine at the public table of the princ.i.p.al hotel in the town with some friends. When the gong sounded, and they all hastened in, as they do, to take their places, he found his antagonist seated with a party of his own friends directly opposite to him. Both their pistols were out in a moment, and were presented.

"Would you prefer dining first?" said the general, who was remarkable for coolness and presence of mind. "I have no objection," replied the other, and the pistols were withdrawn. Some observation, however, occasioned the pistols to be again produced before the dinner was over; and then the friends interfered, each party removing so many feet above and below, so as to separate them.

A day or two afterwards they again met at the corner of a street, and the weapons were produced; but the general, who had some important business to transact, said, "I believe, sir, I can, and you know I can, c.o.c.k a pistol as soon as any man. I give you your choice; shall it be now, or at some future meeting?"--"At some future meeting then," replied his antagonist, "for, to confess the truth, general, I should like to _have you at an advantage_; that is to say, I should like to shoot you, when your back is turned."

I have observed that there is a total want of moral courage on the part of the more respectable population, who will quietly express their horror and disgust at such scenes, but who will never interfere, if the most barbarous murder is committed close to where they are standing. I spoke to many gentlemen on this subject, expressing my surprise; the invariable answer was, "If we interfered we should only hurt ourselves, and do no good; in all probability we should have the quarrel fixed upon ourselves, and risk our own lives, for a man whom we neither know nor care about."

In one case only, the Southerners hang together, which is, if the quarrel is with a stranger. Should the stranger have the best of it, all the worse for him; for, by their own understanding, the stranger must be _whipped_. (Whipping is the term for being conquered, whether the contest is with or without weapons.) No stranger can therefore escape, if he gets into a quarrel; although they fight with each other, on this point the Southerners are all agreed, and there is no chance of escape.

A striking proof of indifference to human life shown by the authorities took place when I was in the West. Colonel C, returning with his regiment from Florida, pa.s.sed through a town in the State of Tennessee.

In a quarrel, one of his soldiers murdered a citizen; and the colonel, who respected the laws, immediately sent the soldier as a prisoner, with a corporal's guard, to be handed over to the authorities. The authorities returned their thanks to the colonel for his kind attention, were "very much obliged to him: but as for the man, _they did not want him_," so the soldier marched off with the rest of the detachment.

It must not be supposed that in this representation of society, I chiefly refer to the humbler cla.s.ses. I refer to those who are considered as [gentlemen], and who, if wealth, and public employment may be said to const.i.tute gentility, are the gentlemen of the States bordering on the Mississippi. My readers may perhaps recollect a circ.u.mstance which occurred but a short time ago, when a member of the House of Legislature in the State of Arkansas, who had a feud with the Speaker of the House, upon his entering the hall, was rushed upon by the Speaker, and stabbed to the heart with a Bowie-knife. What was the result? What steps were taken on the committal of such a foul murder in the very hall of legislature! such a precedent of example shown to the State, by one of its most important members? The following American account, will show what law, what justice, and what a jury is to be found in this region of unprecedented barbarism!

"A MOST DISGRACEFUL AFFAIR.

"Our readers will perhaps recollect the circ.u.mstance which occurred in the legislature of Arkansas, when a member was killed by the Speaker.

The Little Rock Gazette gives the following picture of the state of public feeling in that most civilised country:--

"Three days had elapsed before the const.i.tuted authorities took any notice of this terrible, this murderous deed, and not even then until a relation of the murdered Anthony had demanded a warrant for the apprehension of Wilson. Several days then elapsed before he was brought before an examining court; he then, in a carriage and four, came to the place appointed for his trial. Four or five days were employed in the examination of witnesses, and never was a clearer case of murder proved than on that occasion. Notwithstanding, the court (Justice Brown dissenting) admitted Wilson to bail, and positively refused that the prosecuting attorney for the State should introduce the law, to show that it was not a bailable case, or even to hear an argument from him, and the counsel a.s.sociated with him to prosecute Wilson for the murder.

"At the time appointed for the session of the Circuit Court, Wilson appeared agreeably to his recognisance; a motion was made by Wilson's counsel for a change of _venue_, founded on the affidavits of Wilson and two other men. One stated in his affidavit, that 'nine-tenths of the people of Pulaski had made up and expressed their opinions, and that therefore it would be unsafe for Wilson to be tried in Pulaski;' and the other, that, 'from the repeated occurrence of similar acts within the last four or five years in this country, the people were disposed to act rigidly, and that it would be unsafe for Wilson to be tried in Pulaski.'

The court thereupon removed Wilson to Saline county, and ordered the sheriff to take Wilson into custody, and deliver him over to the sheriff of Saline county.