most heartless of cold-blooded butcheries, of peaceable and unoffending citizens, in the open day, and in the public streets, of their towns and cities, with scarcely a voice being raised to censure, or condemn the deed, or an effort made to bring the offenders to the bar of public justice. We shall pass by the repetition of many such scenes within our own knowledge, contenting ourselves with a detail of the more recent outrages at Vicksburgh; affording as it does a tolerable sample of the mode, and fashion, in which such deeds are usually perpetrated, and the Lynch law code put in force in this best of all republics. We take the following from the Louisiana Advertiser, which is fully corroborated by every other account we have heard or read upon the subject. "Authentic Particulars. The statement in our paper of Saturday, of the horrible excesses committed at Vicksburgh on Monday last, being in some respects incorrect, we hasten to lay before the public authentic accounts, which have been communicated to us by two gentlemen just arrived from that troubled city, and eye-witnesses to most of the transactions. They state that the excitement is so great in that hitherto tranquil place, that almost all the women have left it, to avoid any future commotion. We have further to state that the additional paragraph in our account, stating that Dr. Bodley had had some quarrel in the gaming house, after having won a considerable sum of money, is altogether erroneous; as we have been assured that Dr. B. MURDERS AT VICKSBURGH. 217 never was known to frequent such places, but on the contrary was strongly opposed to them. "Some difficulty arose at the public dinner, in celebration of the 4th of July, as too often happens on similar occasions, between Mr. Fisher, who belongs to the volunteer company, and Mr. Francis Cobler. From words they proceeded to blows. Mr. C having drawn a knife upon his opponent, the company, taking the part of their comrade, seized him, bound him to a tree, and inflicted thirty-two lashes on his person! "Not considering this sufficient, they tarred and feathered him, alleging that he was a gambler. He entreated them to shoot him, rather than disgrace him in that manner, and begged of them not to let the tar fall into his eyes, as they poured it over his head; but the person he addressed, instead of complying with his request, struck him violently with a stick across the eyes! He was then released, and ordered to quit the city within twenty-four hours. "The next day, in order to appear consistent, and continue their work of civilization, (as they called it,) they went forth in military array, to pull down, tear out, and demolish everything appertaining to gambling; and to tar and feather any that should oppose them!-law or no law, notwithstanding! Some wished to protect their property, but their hearts failed them, when they saw the state of excitement of the volunteers. One at length determined to stay in Mr. North's house, to protect himself from being tarred, and to secure the house and grocery from destruction. He had fastened the doors, but upon Doctor Bodley kicking one of them open, some shots were exchanged; the consequence of which was, that the Doctor was killed upon the spot, and one of the inmates of the house, a person named Cullum, or as we have heard since Helmes, was so wounded, as to have been totally insensible to the subsequent punishment inflicted on his body, whilst suspended with the rest upon the gallows. He was hauled upon a dray, and thrown upon the scaffold, disfigured as he was and covered with blood! "Three more individuals were taken in the house, the bar-keeper, called Dutch Bill, Mr. Samuel Smith, and Mr. McCall. North, who had previously quitted it, and was endeavouring to make his escape by water, was arrested about a mile from the city and brought back; his hands were tied behind him, and he was obliged to walk with the rest, who had been similarly bound; each having a rope round his neck, which was frequently jerked so violently as nearly to choke them! In this manner they were conducted to the scaffold, which is a permanent building, and executed without further interruption ! No cap, or other covering was used, and the unfortunate sufferers presented such a horrible appearance, that the passers by were moved even to tears! Some of them endeavoured to interfere, but were threatened with similar punishment, and obliged to desist! MURDERS AT VICKSBURGH. 219 "The unfortunate men claimed to the last, the privilege of AMERICAN CITIZENS, the trial by Jury, and professed themselves willing to submit to anything their country would legally inflict upon them, but we are sorry to say their petition was in vain! The black musicians were ordered to strike up, and the voices of the suppliants were drowned by the fife and drum. Mr. Riddell, the cashier of the Planter's Bank, ordered them to play Yankee Doodle!-a tune which, we believe, has never been so prostituted before, and we trust will never be again.* The unhappy sufferers frequently implored a drink of water, they were refused! Mr. North seems to have had some presentiment of the violence to which they would proceed, as he requested a friend of his, Mr. Mitchell, to protect his family if anything should happen to him." "Doctor Bodley's brother, or Mr. Hest, his brother-in-law, is stated to have cut the rope, by * Martin, in his history of North Carolina, says that the well known national tune of Yankee Doodle was composed by a Dr. Shackbury, who belonged to the staff of the British army in America, out of a frolic and ridicule of the Falstaffian ragamuffin American puritans who volunteered to join the English troops; and he presented it to the officers as a most martial air, calculated to inspire the vilest coward with courage. The joke took, to the no small amusement of the British. Brother Jonathan exclaimed that it was "nation fine," and in a few days nothing was to be heard in the provincial camp but Yankee Doodle. Little did the author then suppose that a tune made for the purpose of levity and ridicule should be marked with such high destinies. which four of these unfortunate men were launched into eternity. Mr. Wingfield threw the nearly lifeless body of Helmes (or Cullum) from the scaffold, which presented a sight shocking to humanity. "The volunteer company, consisted of thirty-nine or forty persons, commanded by Captain Baumgard, and armed by the United States for a very different purpose, that of protecting their fellow citizens, and maintaining the supremacy of the laws. Such conduct would disgrace Algiers, and could hardly have occurred in a barbarous state. "The wife of one of the sufferers, half distracted, at the cruel treatment and murder of her husband, trembling for her own safety, in tears begged permission to inter her husband's body-it was refused! She was afterwards compelled to fly with her orphan child, in an open skiff, for her personal security. "The same fate was threatened to any person who should dare to cut down the bodies before the expiration of the twenty-four hours. At eleven o'clock the next day they were cut down, and thrown together into a hole, which had been dug near the gallows, without coffins, or any other preparation, except a box, into which one of them was put. "Thus ended this disgusting and horrible occurrence. We understand that the magistrates attempted to interfere, but were cautioned, at their peril, not to intermeddle in the affair." It is even stated, that while these scenes were enacting, one of the law courts of this State, or of |