LYNCH LAW.
The rays of the afternoon sun were shining through the fringy needles of
the pines. The sound of the woodpecker reverberated through the
stillness of the forest, answering to thousand woodland notes. Suddenly,
along the distant path, a voice is heard singing, and the sound comes
strangely on the ear through the dreamy stillness:--
"Jesus Christ has lived and died--
What is all the world beside?
This to know is all I need,
This to know is life indeed.
Other wisdom seek I none--
Teach me this, and this alone:
Christ for me has lived and died,
Christ for me was crucified."
And, as the last lines fall upon the ear, a figure, riding slowly on
horseback, comes round the bend of the forest path. It is father
Dickson. It was the habit of this good man, much of whose life was spent
in solitary journeyings, to use the forest arches for that purpose for
which they seemed so well designed, as a great cathedral of prayer and
praise. He was riding with the reins loose over the horse's neck, and a
pocket-Bible in his hand. Occasionally he broke out into snatches of
song, like the one which we heard him singing a few moments ago. As he
rides along now, he seems absorbed in mental prayer. Father Dickson, in
truth, had cause to pray. The plainness of speech which he felt bound to
use had drawn down upon him opposition and opprobrium, and alienated
some of his best friends. The support which many had been willing to
contribute to his poverty was entirely withdrawn. His wife, in feeble
health, was toiling daily beyond her strength; and hunger had looked in
at the door, but each day prayer had driven it away. The petition,
"Give us THIS DAY our daily bread," had not yet failed to bring an
answer, but there was no bread for to-morrow. Many friendly advisers had
told him that, if he would relinquish a futile and useless undertaking,
he should have enough and to spare. He had been conferred with by the
elders in a vacant church, in the town of E., who said to him, "We enjoy
your preaching when you let alone controverted topics; and if you'll
agree to confine yourself solely to the Gospel, and say nothing on any
of the delicate and exciting subjects of the day, we shall rejoice in
your ministrations." They pleaded with him his poverty, and the poor
health of his wife, and the necessities of his children; but he
answered, "'Man shall not live by bread alone.' God is able to feed me,
and he will do it." They went away, saying that he was a fool, that he
was crazy. He was not the first whose brethren had said, "He is beside
himself."
As he rode along through the forest paths, he talked of his wants to his
Master. "Thou knowest," he said, "how I suffer. Thou knowest how feeble
my poor wife is, and how it distresses us both to have our children grow
up without education. We cast ourselves on thee. Let us not deny thee;
let us not betray thee. Thou hadst not where to lay thy head; let us not
murmur. The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his
lord." And then he sang:--
"Jesus, I my cross have taken,
All to leave and follow thee;
Naked, poor, despised, forsaken,
Thou my all henceforth shalt be!
Let the world despise and leave me--
They have left my Saviour too;
Human looks and words deceive me--
Thou art not, like them, untrue!
And, while thou shalt smile upon me,
God of wisdom, power, and might,
Foes may hate and friends disown me,
Show thy face and all is bright!"
And, as he sang and prayed, that strange joy arose within him which,
like the sweetness of night flowers, is born of darkness and
tribulation. The soul hath in it somewhat of the divine, in that it can
have joy in endurance beyond the joy of indulgence.
They mistake who suppose that the highest happiness lies in wishes
accomplished--in prosperity, wealth, favor, and success. There has been
a joy in dungeons and on racks passing the joy of harvest. A joy strange
and solemn, mysterious even to its possessor. A white stone dropped from
that signet-ring, peace, which a dying Saviour took from his own bosom,
and bequeathed to those who endure the cross, despising the shame.
As father Dickson rode on, he lifted his voice, in solemn exultation:--
"Soul, then know thy full salvation;
Rise o'er fear, doubt, and care;
Joy to find, in every station,
Something still to do or bear.
Think what spirit dwells within thee;
Think what Father's smiles are thine;
Think that Jesus died to win thee;
Child of heaven, wilt thou repine?"
At this moment Dr. Cushing in the abundant comforts of his home, might
have envied father Dickson in his desertion and poverty. For that peace
seldom visited him. He struggled wearily along the ways of duty, never
fulfilling his highest ideal; wearied by confusing accusations of
conscience, and deeming himself happy only because, having never lived
in any other state, he knew not what happiness was like. He alternately
condemned his brother's rashness, and sighed as he thought of his
uncompromising spirituality; and once or twice he had written him a
friendly letter of caution, inclosing him a five-dollar bill, wishing
that he might succeed, begging that he would be careful, and ending with
the pious wish that we might all be guided aright; which supplication,
in many cases, answers the purpose, in a man's inner legislation, of
laying troublesome propositions on the table. Meanwhile the shades of
evening drew on, and father Dickson approached the rude church which
stood deep in the shadow of the woods. In external appearance it had not
the pretensions even of a New England barn, but still it had echoed
prayers and praises from humble, sincere worshippers. As father Dickson
rode up to the door, he was surprised to find quite a throng of men,
armed with bludgeons and pistols, waiting before it. One of these now
stepped forward and, handing him a letter, said,--
"Here, I have a letter for you to read!"
Father Dickson put it calmly in his pocket. "I will read it after
service," said he.
The man then laid hold of his bridle. "Come out here!" he said; "I want
to talk to you."
"Thank you, friend, I will talk with you after meeting," said he. "It's
time for me to begin service."
"The fact is," said a surly, wolfish-looking fellow who came behind the
first speaker, "the fact is, we an't going to have any of your d----d
abolition meetings here! If he can't get it out, I can!"
"Friends," said father Dickson, mildly, "by what right do you presume to
stop me?"
"We think," said the first man, "that you are doing harm, violating the
laws"--
"Have you any warrant from the civil authorities to stop me?"
"No, sir," said the first speaker; but the second one, ejecting a large
quid of tobacco from his mouth, took up the explanation in a style and
taste peculiarly his own.
"Now, old cock, you may as well know fust as last, that we don't care a
cuss for the civil authorities, as you call them, 'cause we's going to
do what we darn please; and we don't please have you yowping
abolishionism round here, and putting deviltry in the heads of our
niggers! Now, that ar's plain talk!"
This speech was chorused by a group of men on the steps, who now began
to gather round and shout,--
"Give it to him! That's into him! Make the wool fly!"
Father Dickson, who was perfectly calm, now remarked in the shadow of
the wood, at no great distance, three or four young men mounted on
horses, who laughed brutally and called out to the speaker,--
"Give him some more!"
"My friends," said father Dickson, "I came here to perform a duty, at
the call of my heavenly Master, and you have no right to stop me."
"Well, how will you help yourself, old bird? Supposing we haven't?"
"Remember, my friends, that we shall all stand side by side at the
judgment seat to give an account for this night's transactions. How will
you answer for it to God?"
A loud, sneering laugh came from the group under the trees, and a
voice, which we recognize as Tom Gordon's, calls out,
"He is coming the solemn dodge on you, boys! Get on your long faces!"
"Come," said the roughest of the speakers, "this here don't go down with
us! We don't know nothing about no judgments; and as to God, we an't
none of us seen him, lately. We 'spect he don't travel round these
parts."
"The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the
good," said father Dickson.
Here one of the mob mewed like a cat, another barked like a dog, and the
spectators under the tree laughed more loudly than ever.
"I say," said the first speaker, "you shan't go to getting up rat-traps
and calling 'em meetings! This yer preaching o' yourn is a cussed sell,
and we won't stand it no longer! We shall have an insurrection among our
niggers. Pretty business, getting up churches where you won't have
slave-holders commune! I's got niggers myself, and I know I's bigger
slave than they be, and I wished I was shet of them! But I an't going to
have no d----d old parson dictating to me about my affairs! And we
won't, none of the rest of us, will we? 'Cause them that an't got any
niggers now means to have. Don't we, boys?"
"Ay, ay, that we do! Give it to him!" was shouted from the party.
"It's our right to have niggers, and we will have them, if we can get
them," continued the speaker.
"Who gave you the right?" said father Dickson.
"Who gave it? Why, the Constitution of the United States, to be sure,
man! Who did you suppose? An't we got the freest government in the
world? Is we going to be shut out of communion, 'cause we holds niggers?
Don't care a cuss for your old communion, but it's the _principle_ I's
going for! Now, I tell you what, old fellow, we've got you; and you have
got to promise, right off the reel, that you won't say another word on
this yer subject."
"Friend, I shall make no such promise," said father Dickson, in a tone
so mild and steadfast that there was a momentary pause.
"You'd better," said a man in the crowd, "if you know what 's good for
you!"
A voice now spoke from the circle of the young men,--
"Never cave in, boys!"
"No fear of us!" responded the man who had taken the most prominent part
in the dialogue hitherto. "We'll serve it out to him! Now, ye see, old
feller, ye're treed, and may as well come down, as the coon said to
Davy. You can't help yourself, 'cause we are ten to one; and if you
don't promise peaceable, we'll make you!"
"My friends," said father Dickson, "I want you to think what you are
doing. Your good sense must teach you the impropriety of your course.
You know that you are doing wrong. You know that it isn't right to
trample on all law, both human and divine, out of professed love to it.
You must see that your course will lead to perfect anarchy and
confusion. The time may come when your opinions will be as unpopular as
mine."
"Well, what then?"
"Why, if your course prevails, you must be lynched, stoned, tarred, and
feathered. This is a two-edged sword you are using, and some day you may
find the edge turned towards you. You may be seized, just as you are
seizing me. You know the men that threw Daniel into the den got thrown
in themselves."
"Daniel who?" shouted one of the company; and the young men under the
tree laughed insultingly.
"Why are you afraid to let me preach, this evening?" said father
Dickson. "Why can't you hear me, and, if I say anything false, why can't
you show me the falsehood of it? It seems to me it's a weak cause that
can only get along by stopping men's mouths."
"No, no--we an't going to have it!" said the man who had taken the most
active part. "And now you've got to sign a solemn promise, this night,
that you won't ever open your mouth again about this yer subject, or
we'll make it worse for you!"
"I shall never make such a promise. You need not think to terrify me
into it, for I am not afraid. You must kill me before you can stop me."
"D--n you, then, old man," said one of the young men, riding up by the
side of him, "I'll tell you what you shall do! You shall sign a pledge
to leave North Carolina in three days, and never come back again, and
take your whole spawn and litter with you, or you shall be chastised for
your impudence! Now, look out, sir, for you are speaking to your
betters! Your insolence is intolerable! What business have you passing
strictures reflecting on the conduct of gentlemen of family? Think
yourself happy that we let you go out of the state without the
punishment that your impudence deserves!"
"Mr. Gordon, I am sorry to hear you speaking in that way," said Father
Dickson, composedly. "By right of your family, you certainly ought to
know how to speak as a gentleman. You are holding language to me that
you have no right to hold, and uttering threats that you have no means
of enforcing."
"You'll see if I haven't!" replied the other, with an oath. "Here,
boys!"
He beckoned one or two of the leaders to his side, and spoke with them
in a low voice. One of them seemed inclined to remonstrate.
"No, no--it's too bad!" he said.
But the others said,--
"Yes, it serves him right! We'll do it! Hurra, boys! We'll help on the
parson home, and help him kindle his fire!"
There was a general shout, as the whole party, striking up a ribald
song, seized father Dickson's horse, turned him round, and began
marching in the direction of his cabin in the woods.
Tom Gordon and his companions, who rode foremost, filled the air with
blasphemous and obscene songs, which entirely drowned the voice of
father Dickson whenever he attempted to make himself heard. Before they
started, Tom Gordon had distributed freely of whiskey among them, so
that what little manliness there might have been within seemed to be
"set on fire of hell." It was one of those moments that try men's souls.
Father Dickson, as he was hurried along, thought of that other _one_,
who was led by an infuriate mob through the streets of Jerusalem, and he
lifted his heart in prayer to the Apostle and High Priest of his
profession, the God in Jesus. When they arrived before his little cabin,
he made one more effort to arrest their attention.
"My brethren," he said.
"None of your brethren! Stop that cant!" said Tom Gordon.
"Hear me one word," said father Dickson. "My wife is quite feeble. I'm
sure you wouldn't wish to hurt a sick woman, who never did harm to any
mortal creature."
"Well, then," said Tom Gordon, facing round to him, "if you care so very
much about your wife, you can very easily save her any further trouble.
Just give us the promise we want, and we'll go away peaceably, and leave
you. But, if you won't, as true as there is a God in heaven, we'll pull
down every stick of timber in your old kennel! I'll tell you what, old
man, you've got a master to deal with, now!"
"I cannot promise not to preach upon this subject."
"Well, then, you must promise to take yourself out of the state. You can
go among your northern brethren, and howl and mawl round there; but we
are not going to have you here. I have as much respect for respectable
ministers of the Gospel as any one, when they confine themselves to the
duties of their calling; but, when they come down to be intriguing in
our worldly affairs, they must expect to be treated as we treat other
folks that do that. Their black coats shan't protect them! We are not
going to be priest-ridden, are we, boys?"
A loud whoop of inflamed and drunken merriment chorused this question.
Just at this moment the door of the cottage was opened, and a pale,
sickly-looking woman came gliding out to the gate.
"My dear," she said, and her voice was perfectly calm, "don't yield a
hair's breadth, on my account. I can bear as well as you. I am not
afraid. I am ready to die for conscience' sake. Gentlemen," she said,
"there is not much in this house of any value, except two sick children.
If it is agreeable to you to pull it down, you can do it. Our goods are
hardly worth spoiling, but you can spoil them. My husband, be firm;
don't yield an inch!"
It is one of the worst curses of slavery that it effaces from the breast
all manly feeling with regard to woman. Every one remembers the story
how the frail and delicate wife of Lovejoy placed her weakness as a
shield before the chamber door where her husband was secreted, and was
fought with brutal oaths and abuse by the drunken gang, who were
determined to pass over her body, if necessary, to his heart! They who
are trained to whip women in a servile position, of course can have none
of the respect which a free man feels for woman as woman. They respect
the sex when they see it enshrined by fashion, wealth, and power; but
they tread it in the dust when, in poverty and helplessness, it stands
in the path of their purposes.
"Woman," said Tom Gordon, "you are a fool! You needn't think to come it
round us with any of that talk! You needn't think we are going to stop
on your account, for we shan't. We know what we are about."
"So does God!" said the woman, fixing her eye on him with one of those
sudden looks of power with which a noble sentiment sometimes lights up
for a moment the weakest form.
There was a momentary pause, and then Tom broke out into oaths and
curses.
"I'll tell you what, boys," he said, "we had better bring matters to a
point! Here, tie him up to this tree, and give him six-and-thirty! He is
so dreadful fond of the niggers, let him fare with them! We know how to
get a promise out of him!"
The tiger was now fully awake in the crowd. Wild oaths and cries of
"Give it to him! Give it to him, G--d d--n him!" arose.
Father Dickson stood calm; and, beholding him, they saw his face as if
it had been that of an angel, and they gnashed on him with their teeth.
A few moments more, and he was divested of his outer garments, and bound
to a tree.
"Now will you promise?" said Tom Gordon, taking out his watch. "I give
you five minutes."
The children, now aroused, were looking out, crying, from the door. His
wife walked out and took her place before him.
"Stand out of the way, old woman!" said Tom Gordon.
"I will not stand out of the way!" she said, throwing her arms round her
husband. "You shall not get to him but over my body!"
"Ben Hyatt, take her away!" said Tom Gordon. "Treat her decently, as
long as she behaves herself."
A man forced her away. She fell fainting on his shoulder.
"Lay her down," said Tom Gordon. "Now, sir, your five minutes are up.
What have you got to say?"
"I have to say that I shall not comply with your demands."
"Very well," said Tom, "it's best to be explicit."
He drew his horse a little back, and said to a man who was holding a
slave-whip behind,--
"Give it to him!"
The blows descended. He uttered no sound. The mob, meanwhile, tauntingly
insulted him.
"How do you like it? What do you think of it? Preach us a sermon, now,
can't you? Come, where's your text?"
"He is getting stars and stripes, now!" said one.
"I reckon he'll see stars!" said another.
"Stop," said Tom Gordon. "Well, my friend," he said, "you see we are in
earnest, and we shall carry this through to the bitter end, you may rely
on it. You won't get any sympathy; you won't get any support. There an't
a minister in the state that will stand by you. They all have sense
enough to let our affairs alone. They'd any of them hold a candle here,
as the good elder did when they thrashed Dresser, down at Nashville.
Come, now, will you cave in?"
But at this moment the conversation was interrupted by the riding up of
four or five gentlemen on horseback, the headmost of whom was Clayton.
"What's this?" he exclaimed, hurriedly. "What, Mr. Gordon--father
Dickson! What--what am I to understand by this?"
"Who the devil cares what you understand? It's no business of yours,"
said Tom Gordon; "so stand out of my way!"
"I shall make it some of my business," said Clayton, turning round to
one of his companions. "Mr. Brown, you are a magistrate?"
Mr. Brown, a florid, puffy-looking old gentleman, now rode forward.
"Bless my soul, but this is shocking! Mr. Gordon, don't! how can you? My
boys, you ought to consider!"
Clayton, meanwhile, had thrown himself off his horse, and cut the cords
which bound Father Dickson to the tree. The sudden reaction of feeling
overcame him. He fell, fainting.
"Are you not ashamed of yourselves?" said Clayton, indignantly glancing
round. "Isn't this pretty business for great, strong men like you,
abusing ministers that you know won't fight, and women and children that
you know can't!"
"Do you mean to apply that language to me?" said Tom Gordon.
"Yes, sir, I do mean just that!" said Clayton, looking at him, while he
stretched his tall figure to its utmost height.
"Sir, that remark demands satisfaction."
"You are welcome to all the satisfaction you can get," said Clayton,
coolly.
"You shall meet me," said Tom Gordon, "where you shall answer for that
remark!"
"I am not a fighting man," said Clayton; "but, if I were, I should never
consent to meet any one but my equals. When a man stoops to do the work
of a rowdy and a bully, he falls out of the sphere of gentlemen. As for
you," said Clayton, turning to the rest of the company, "there's more
apology for you. You have not been brought up to know better. Take my
advice; disperse yourselves now, or I shall take means to have this
outrage brought to justice."
There is often a magnetic force in the appearance, amid an excited mob,
of a man of commanding presence, who seems perfectly calm and decided.
The mob stood irresolute.
"Come, Tom," said Kite, pulling him by the sleeve, "we've given him
enough, at any rate."
"Yes, yes," said Mr. Brown, "Mr. Gordon, I advise you to go home. We
must all keep the peace, you know. Come, boys, you've done enough for
one night, I should hope! Go home, now, and let the old man be; and
there's something to buy you a treat, down at Skinflint's. Come, do the
handsome, now!"
Tom Gordon sullenly rode away, with his two associates each side; but,
before he went, he said to Clayton,--
"You shall hear of me again, one of these days!"
"As you please," said Clayton.
The party now set themselves about recovering and comforting the
frightened family. The wife was carried in and laid down on the bed.
Father Dickson was soon restored so as to be able to sit up, and, being
generally known and respected by the company, received many expressions
of sympathy and condolence. One of the men was an elder in the church
which had desired his ministerial services. He thought this a good
opportunity of enforcing some of his formerly expressed opinions.
"Now, father Dickson," he said, "this just shows you the truth of what I
was telling you. This course of yours won't do; you see it won't, now.
Now, if you'd agree not to say anything of these troublesome matters,
and just confine yourself to the preaching of the Gospel, you see you
wouldn't get into any more trouble; and, after all, it's the Gospel
that's the root of the matter. The Gospel will gradually correct all
these evils, if you don't say anything about them. You see, the state of
the community is peculiar. They won't bear it. We feel the evils of
slavery just as much as you do. Our souls are burdened under it," he
said, complacently wiping his face with his handkerchief. "But
Providence doesn't appear to open any door here for us to do anything. I
think we ought to abide on the patient waiting on the Lord, who, in his
own good time, will bring light out of darkness, and order out of
confusion."
This last phrase being a part of a stereotyped exhortation with which
the good elder was wont to indulge his brethren in church
prayer-meetings, he delivered it in the sleepy drawl which he reserved
for such occasions.
"Well," said father Dickson, "I must say that I don't see that the
preaching of the Gospel, in the way we have preached it hitherto, has
done anything to rectify the evil. It's a bad sign if our preaching
doesn't make a conflict. When the apostles came to a place, they said,
'These men that turn the world upside down are come hither.'"
"But," said Mr. Brown, "you must consider our institutions are peculiar;
our negroes are ignorant and inflammable, easily wrought upon, and the
most frightful consequences may result. That's the reason why there is
so much sensation when any discussion is begun which relates to them.
Now, I was in Nashville when that Dresser affair took place. He hadn't
said a word--he hadn't opened his mouth, even--but he was known to be an
abolitionist; and so they searched his trunks and papers, and there they
found documents expressing abolition sentiments, sure enough. Well,
everybody, ministers and elders, joined in that affair, and stood by to
see him whipped. I thought, myself, they went too far. But there is
just where it is. People are not reasonable, and they won't be
reasonable, in such cases. It's too much to ask of them; and so
everybody ought to be cautious. Now, I wish, for my part, that ministers
would confine themselves to their appropriate duties. 'Christ's kingdom
is not of this world.' And, then, you don't know Tom Gordon. He is a
terrible fellow! I never want to come in conflict with him. I thought
I'd put the best face on it, and persuade him away. I didn't want to
make Tom Gordon my enemy. And I think Mr. Dickson, if you must preach
these doctrines I think it would be best for you to leave the state. Of
course, we don't want to restrict any man's conscience; but when any
kind of preaching excites brawls and confusion, and inflames the public
mind, it seems to be a duty to give it up."
"Yes," said Mr. Cornet, the elder, "we ought to follow the things which
make for peace--such things whereby one may edify another."
"Don't you see, gentlemen," said Mr. Clayton, "that such a course is
surrendering our liberty of free speech into the hands of a mob? If Tom
Gordon may dictate what is to be said on one subject, he may on another;
and the rod which has been held over our friend's head to-night may be
held over ours. Independent of the right or wrong of father Dickson's
principles, he ought to maintain his position, for the sake of
maintaining the right of free opinion in the state."
"Why," said Mr. Cornet, "the Scripture saith, 'If they persecute you in
this city, flee ye into another.'"
"That was said," said Clayton, "to a people that lived under despotism,
and had no rights of liberty given them to maintain. But, if we give way
before mob law, we make ourselves slaves of the worst despotism on
earth."
But Clayton spoke to men whose ears were stopped by the cotton of
slothfulness and love of ease. They rose up, and said,
"It was time for them to be going."
Clayton expressed his intention of remaining over the night, to afford
encouragement and assistance to his friends, in case of any further
emergency.