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virtue. He becomes a nuisance to the community, and in consequence the heads or elders would meet and vote his expulsion. Their method was very simple and straight-forward; he was informed that his absence would be agreeable, and that if he did not "clear out" before a certain day, he would receive forty lashes with a cow-hide. If the party thought proper to defy this notice, as soon as the day arrived he received the punishment, with a due notification that, if found there again after a certain time, the dose would be repeated. By these means they rid the community of a bad subject, and the morals of the junior branches were not contaminated. Such was in its origin the practice of Lynch law.

A circumstance occurred within these few years in which Lynch law was duly administered. At Dubuque, in the Ioway district, a murder was committed. The people of Dubuque first applied to the authorities of the State of Michigan, but they discovered that the district of

Ioway was not within the jurisdiction of that State; and, in fact, although on the opposite side of the river there was law and justice, they had neither to appeal to. They would not allow the murderer to escape; they consequently met, selected among themselves a judge and a jury, tried the man, and, upon their own responsibility, hanged him.

There was another instance which occurred a short time since at Snakes' Hollow, on the western side of the Mississippi, not far from the town of Dubuque. A band of miscreants, with a view of obtaining possession of some valuable diggings (lead mines) which were in the possession of a grocer who lived in that place, murdered him in the open day. The parties were well known, but they held together and would none of them give evidence. As there were no hopes of their conviction, the people of Snakes' Hollow armed themselves, seized the parties engaged in the transaction, and ordered them to quit the territory on pain

of having a rifle-bullet through their heads immediately. The scoundrels crossed the river in a canoe, and were never after heard of.

I have collected these facts to shew that Lynch law has been forced upon the American settlers in the Western States by circumstances; that it has been acted upon in support of morality and virtue, and that its awards have been regulated by strict justice. But I must now notice this practice with a view to shew how dangerous it is that any law should be meted out by the majority, and that what was commenced from a sense of justice and necessity, has now changed into a defiance of law, where law and justice can be readily obtained. The Lynch law of the present day, as practised in the States of the West and South, may be divided into two different heads the first is, the administration of it in cases in which the laws of the States are considered by the majority as not having awarded a punishment adequate, in their opinion, to the offence committed; and the other, when

from excitement the majority will not wait for the law to act, but inflict the punishment with their own hands.

The following are instances under the first head.

Every crime increases in magnitude in proportion as it affects the welfare and interest of the commuuity. Forgery and bigamy are certainly crimes, but they are not such heavy crimes as many others to which the same penalty is decreed in this country. But in a commercial nation forgery, from its effects, becomes most injurious, as it destroys confidence and security of property, affecting the whole mass of society. A man may have his pocket picked of £1000 or more, but this is not a capital offence, as it is only the individual who suffers; but if a man forges a bill for £5 he is (or rather was) sentenced by our laws to be hanged. Bigamy may adduced as another instance: the heinousness of the offence is not in having more than one wife, but in the prospect of the children of the first

be

marriage being left to be supported by the community. Formerly, that was also pronounced a capital offence. Of punishments, it will be observed that society has awarded the most severe for crimes committed against itself, rather that against those which most offend God. Upon this principle, in the Southern and Western States, you may murder ten white men and no one will arraign you or trouble himself about the matter; but steal one nigger, and the whole community are in arms, and express the most virtuous indignation against the sin of theft, although that of murder will be disregarded.

One or two instances in which Lynch law was called in to assist justice on the bench, came to my knowledge. A Yankee had stolen a slave, but as the indictment was not properly worded, he knew that he would be acquitted, and he boasted so, previous to the trial coming on. He was correct in his supposition; the flaw in the indictment was fatal, and he was acquitted. "I told you so," said he, triumphantly smiling as he

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