_Out of Joint With His Times._
"Jedge, I'd lack to mek' er few dimes. Ken I peddle limonade nigh de
co't 'ouse do', sah, yer honah?"
The judge looked with a kindly eye upon the rather small, aged Negro,
who made the above request. The look of the man was so appealing and his
voice so sad of tone that the judge was moved to grant the request.
"Thank 'ee, jedge, thank 'ee," said the Negro, bowing low, his face and
whole frame testifying to his immense joy at being allowed to sell
lemonade at the court house door.
"His family must be starving," thought the judge, as he resumed his walk
to the court house, haunted by the pleading look in the Negro's eye.
"He asked for that insignificant favor with as much soul as a man could
put in a plea for his life," mused the judge, as he continued to think
of that haunting look.
"That Negro would hardly tell me, but I would like to know what dark
cloud it is that so patently casts its shadow over him," thought the
judge, turning to cast a look in the Negro's direction. The Negro saw
him turn and greeted him with another profound bow and humble laying off
of his hands.
The judge entered the court room, which was now crowded with people from
far and near. That day was to be a great day with them. The lynchers of
Bud and Foresta were to be tried, but that was not what excited their
interest.
The Congressman from the district in which Maulville was located had
just died, and his successor was soon to be chosen. There was but little
free discussion of political matters in that district, the white
population generally rendering unswerving allegiance to the Democratic
party, while the Negroes were equally as ardent in the support of the
Republican party, each race claiming that so far as it was concerned the
exigencies of the situation permitted no other course. In the absence of
a political arena in which young statesmen might display their prowess,
the court house became the nursery of statesmen in the South.
Thither then the people were flocking to-day, ostensibly to witness the
trial of the slayers of Bud and Foresta, but in reality to pass final
judgment upon the claims of the young prosecuting attorney who had
announced himself a candidate to succeed the deceased Congressman. The
ability of the young man was unquestioned and his exposition of the
fundamental principles of the Democratic party was all that could be
desired, they felt, but they wanted to hear him on the one question
that was the final test of his acceptability, his attitude on the race
question.
The court assembled and the crowds poured in. The prosecuting attorney,
H. Clay Maul, son of Gen. Maul, after whom the town was named, arrived
early and took his seat, his earnest face wearing the look of a
determined man sure of his course. Well did he know how much was
involved for himself personally in what was to transpire that day, but
he had vowed on the previous night, which he had spent at his mother's
grave, that he would do his duty regardless of its effect upon his own
future.
The first case to be called was that of the man designated by the mob to
apply the torch. The chief concern of the defense was in the matter of
securing a jury. They expected the judge to do his duty, and the
prosecuting attorney to put forth his best efforts to convict. But their
reliance was in a jury in whom the race instinct would triumph over
every other consideration and cause it to bring in a verdict of not
guilty.
It was at last young Maul's time to speak and he arose, slightly
nervous. He hesitated an instant before beginning. All the hopes of his
deceased father concerning him, all the dreams of his boyhood, all the
blandishments of fame and power came surging to his mind and his Ego
said, "Spare thyself. Thy sacrifice will be in vain."
Overcome by conflicting emotions that gathered in his bosom at this
moment, he waved his hand to the audience as if to say, "Wait," and sat
down. His eyes were directed to the floor and his hand still
outstretched to the audience, giving the people to understand that he
was yet to be heard from.
Every eye in the room was now upon him, and all were conscious that a
supreme struggle was going on in his bosom. At last he stood up, a smile
of triumph upon his face. And thus it was that a son of the New South
came into his spiritual inheritance.
The audience was more eager now than ever to hear every word of the
forthcoming speech, and as it forever fixed the status of the young man
with his fellows, we give enough of it to our readers to warrant them in
passing judgment on the judgment of the people of Maulville, Miss. Said
he:
"Upon an occasion such as this, in order that we may the better
get our bearings, it might pertinently be asked as to why, in
the evolution of things, you, honorable Judge, you, esteemed
gentlemen of the jury, and myself, your humble servant, are
here to-day addressing our attention to a crime which was in no
wise directed against us personally.
"We are here to take care of the interests of society, to guard
it against the influence of a savage deed whose foul breath
blown upon our civilization threatens it with utter decay.
Availing myself of the latitude accorded one in your court,
honored Judge, I shall seek to point out all the involvements
in the case which we have before us.
"God has given unto us, or, to be more exact, has permitted us
to wrest from the Indian and from creeping snake and prowling
beast, a goodly land. Here we raise a product that supplies a
need of the world that cannot be so acceptably filled up to the
present time by any other quarter of the globe.
"The world at large, therefore, has a vital material interest
in the manner in which we conduct ourselves on this spot. We
have in our midst Negroes who have a superior adaptation to the
labor of the fields, and it is to our interest and to the
interests of mankind generally, that they be treated properly,
as in their humble way they do this their share of the world's
work.
"Crown Murder king here to-day, if you will, and his bloody
sceptre waved over our fields will drive the Negroes therefrom,
keep us poor, and sadly disturb economic conditions in the most
remote corners of the earth. The material interests of
civilization at large, therefore, appeal to you for the
administration of justice in our part of the world.
"But civilization has even higher interests involved. We must
bear in mind that these are no longer days of isolation, that
the deeds of Maulville have been canvassed throughout the
earth. Man has been battling upward through the ages, and his
savage instincts have sought to mount the ladder with him as he
climbed. It has been one of the hardest of man's battles to
leave behind him these depraved parts of his nature, and
evidence that you carry your savagery with you will make the
battle harder for the whole of the human family. And so the
moral health of the world demands that every community have a
pest house where the isolation and treatment of the morally
diseased may forestall an epidemic.
"Coming nearer home, I would call your attention to our sister
states to the north of us. These states are bound up with us in
a political system. Destiny has made us one people, and by the
outside world we must be reckoned with as a unit. Under these
circumstances, the thought must unavoidably develop that _that_
for which all are to be held responsible must, when the need
arises, be made the subject of inquiry and action on the part
of all.
"For the honor, then, of the other members of our political
compact who form a part of our shield against the outside
world, and to enable them in view of the attached
responsibility, to accord, with a clear conscience, full
deference to our claim to the right of local self-government,
it is incumbent upon us to act worthily here.
"Gentlemen, our own larger interests are involved in this
matter. It is our privilege, and our duty as well, to
contribute our best heart and brain to the care of the
interests of our nation and to the guidance of the world. But
if our statesmen walk through the halls of Congress emitting
from their garments the scent of burning human flesh, when they
would put forth their souls as great magnets for mankind, the
tender, sensitive world-heart will recede from their touch, and
leave their hollow, resounding voices reverberating through
space. Thus shall we lose our share of great world leaders.
"Gentlemen, the lives of white men will be placed in jeopardy
by a miscarriage of justice here to-day. The jury that refused
first to hang a white man for killing a Negro, seared its
conscience, lowered its estimate of the value of human life,
and now, without due process of law, the white man who kills
any one is almost uniformly exempt from the death penalty. The
maltreatment of Negroes according to immutable laws precedes
but by one day the like maltreatment of whites.
"Need I to tell you of the patient dark faces that sit in their
humble cabins to-day and quietly await your verdict which will
make their lives secure, or subject to the caprice of the man
with murderous instinct.
"Gentlemen of the jury, remember that the interests of your
children are involved in this case. The capital on which they
are to begin life is necessarily that which they draw from your
social manifestations. They saw that holiday crowd that
gathered here on the day of the burning and some of those hot
human ashes fell in their innocent faces. What happened here
that day will be talked over by them in their childish sports.
Let us give to them a fitting conclusion to the recital. We
have made it possible for them to say that the deed was done.
Let us avoid contributing to their hardness of heart, by
causing them to say that the deed was spurned.
"Having at length put before you the claims of society whose
mouthpiece I am this day, I am now ready to deal more
specifically with the case before us.
"I have no hesitancy in asserting that the evidence before you,
gentlemen, is of a sufficient character to justify the
conviction of the defendant. The case is so plain that it seems
like arguing an axiom to discuss it. I will not impugn the
intelligence of this jury by a review of the evidence in so
plain a case. But knowing the deadening miasma of race
prejudice that hangs over, envelops and stifles us so often, I
shall dwell briefly upon the nature of the crime committed by
the defendant.
"A Negro, acting upon that instinct of self-preservation that
ramifies all nature, shot down his would-be murderer, no other
course save the surrender of his life being open to him. Have
we gone back to the days of the cannibal kings, when it was
deemed a virtue for a subject to lay down his life to satisfy a
whim of his master? Have we, the proud Anglo-Saxon race, fallen
so low that we are to ask that the Negro meekly lay down in our
pathway, while we enjoy the pleasant sport of boring holes
through his body? If this is not what we mean, how do you
account for that writhing form, the form of that Negro, whose
only offense was that he sought to preserve from the violence
of man a life granted unto him by his Maker?
"And now I come to the crowning horror of the ages. Our poets
have sung in loftiest strains of the devotion of woman.
"A Negro wife, true to that impulse of the woman's heart that
has made this old world worth living in, that has taught men
that the fireside is worth dying for, that
impulse--devotion to a loved one in distress, led that
girl to journey by her husband's side through bog and swamp,
bearing up bravely under the scorching heat of the sun and
wilting not in the dead of night amid the gloom of the beast
infested forest.
"Ah! gentlemen, that girl deserved better of us than what we
gave her. And I declare unto you that as the ages roll by, the
people of the earth are going to make of those cruel flames
that wrapped themselves about her nude body a fiery chariot of
glory to carry the blessed memory of her devotion from age to
age.
[Illustration: "'Is it a crime for me, one of your sons, to invoke
loyalty to the national constitution? If so, I commit
that crime.'"
(174-175.)]
"Such will be the verdict of the future; but, gentlemen of the
jury, you are this moment the mouthpiece of your age and we are
concerned about your verdict.
"Gentlemen of the jury, the evidence in this case, the
revolting nature of the crime and every consideration of
society demands a verdict of guilty. We have reached the apex
of infamy in the crime which lies unavenged at our doors.
"Let us retrace our steps beginning here to-day. Seeing whither
our present policy as a people toward the Negro has led us, let
us adopt another course.
"Is it a crime for me, one of your sons to invoke loyalty to
our national constitution? If so I commit that crime. Let us
accept the Negro as a partner in our government, and acts such
as these will not occur. Nor in so saying do I abate one inch
of my stand for white supremacy. As long as there are distinct
races there will be racial aspirations for first place. But I
crave not the first place born of the prestige of sitting upon
a throne whose base is forever lapped by the waves of the blood
of the innocent and the helpless. I stand for white supremacy
in intellect, in soul power, in grasp upon the esteem of others
through sheer force of character. But all this aside. Justice
whom you cannot afford to banish from your borders calls upon
you to pronounce over this defendant's head the verdict of
guilty."
Young Maul's speech was now over, but he did not sit down. Having
declared himself in the manner that he did, he knew that he was
henceforth to be a political outcast, a pariah. He had not stood up for
the extension of the caste idea to the political system and knew that
its ban would henceforth be upon him. Yet in spite of the dreary future
which his speech had carved out for him his soul was at ease, for he was
conscious of having advocated that which was best for his people.
Grasping his hat he strode out of the room, not waiting for the verdict
of the jury.
"It is a pity that our section can find no place for so true a soul
presided over by so bright a mind," thought the judge, his eyes
following young Maul, as the latter passed out of the court room, and
through the court house yard, looking neither to the right nor to the
left. The people understood his going. He was saying that he had done
his duty and personally could be absolved from concern as to results.
The lawyers for the defense, feeling sure of the jury, saw no necessity
for the making of speeches on their part. They waived their rights in
this particular, and the jury, after being solemnly charged by the
judge, was handed the case.
The Negro at the door selling lemonade had been an eager listener to all
that was said in the case. He had now totally suspended his sales and,
standing in the door was eagerly scanning the faces of the jurymen, who
had announced that they did not need to retire, but could return a
verdict on the spot.
"Come here, darkey, with your lemonade," called a white man on the
outside to the Negro.
The Negro obeyed, though his heart for some cause was in the court room.
Suddenly there was a tumult in the court room and the Negro dropped his
lemonade bucket and ran to the door. He saw a crowd surging about the
lyncher that had been on trial, and he cried out in startling tones:
"Gemmen, don't do dat. Don't kill de man. De boy whut wuz burnt, I'm his
daddy. I jes' wanted yer ter 'nounce de man guilty so as ter tek de
stain off'n de dead; but fur Gawd's sake, don' lynch de man."
The judge saw through it all at once and hastened to Silas Harper's
side, for it was he, Bud's father. In sorrowful tones the judge said,
"You are mistaken, friend. They are congratulating the man. They are not
trying to hurt him. The jury has said that he was not guilty. You had
better come and go with me. They might become enraged against you and
have another lynching."
Silas Harper's jaws fell apart in amazement and his eyes took on the
look of a terror-stricken, hunted animal. He meekly slunk along after
the judge, and to an outsider would have appeared to be a criminal
doomed to die.