The St. Landry whig., 1845-08-07

HxeSuted at 0pelousas, Parish Of 8S. Landry,
Aouisianas ON the 18th july 1e45s
FOR THE MURDER OF ROBT.M cGAHEY.
WRITTEN ny HIMSELF.
Toths Editor of the st. Landry Waig:
SIR,-There are those who think that my
promise to publish the autobiography of Mitchell
would be 'srnore honored in the breach than in
the observance. They argue, that such q life
can present little or nothing Of interest 10 the
community that / cannot expect from it fame,
profit, or thanks that a sense of duty-the hope
Of doing good, andthe qualification Of curiosity
powerful stimulants TO ex ertion-are all wanting
as motives for such . publication. The immi.
nent peril Of popular displeasure, and the better
employment of time, are held forth as reasons,
both stringent and conclusive, against the pro-
priety Of such an undertaking.
My answer is-that | have ever held sacred
the requests of the dying, (be their station and
character what they may,) when unaccom-
panied by conditions of injury to the living.
That interest, reputation, and thankful acknow-
Judgments have not entered into my calculations;
that with no disposition whatever to quarrel
with or offend any human being, | am in nowise
solicitous, in my own regard, Of the ebhings and
towlngs of popular goodwill; thatthe time !
can spare from the service Of the public, is like
the whole of my time-a talent, for which | am
accountable to HIM who bestows it.
It is true, indeed, that the sssinful and misera
BILE life" of a young man, whose early education
was deplorably neglected, an outcast from horne
and the advantages of good society, q companion
from the very necessity of his situation Of cor
rupt and wicked men, a hired ~oyerseer Of slaves
in the sparsely peopled regionsaof the West, a
hunter in forests, cane brakes aad prairies. Gall
within the precincts Of American civilization
presents few or none of the excitements and
perils necessarily y en- odnteged among savage and
lbarbarons tribes, amidst juagles and thickets, the
lairs and dens of wild beasts, or the stirring and
interesting events ia crowded and populous dis.
tricts. The monotony of an existence alike re-
moved from a state of nature and high refine
ment, from enjoyment abroad and communion
| within-seems, therefore, a barren and unprom-
ising field Of biography. Verify events Of a
week. nay Of a single day or hour, in a large city
or . teeming rural population, are often more
worthy Of record, than those of the longest life in
isolated hamlets of civilized man, removed many
leagues from the high-roads of nations, from EN-.
poriums Of commerce., Of literature and arts.
These memoirs, nevertheless, are not without
their moral-a moral, too, which may be read
with advantage by tho rising generation around
us.
ahJlo SuW many tkdIiiSG5 III yOuuR Sd5shIn
eyes, and 10 are many Mitchels made visible IN
the moral mirrors which reflect to tholsands up
on thousands of young people, the multiplied
images oftheir own characters. They may see
themselves inostsfaiihfully portrayed in that pride
which spurnsFth@or restraints Of justice; in that
inordinate love OF money, the. root of all evil; in
that violence which is deaf to the dictates Of
compassion; that hateful disobedienee to paren.
tai authority, productive to society of the direst
enormities; in that impious worldliness which
desecrates The Sabbath, and the revealing and
drunkenness which followin its train. They see
themselves in that capricious and uncontrollable
self-will which lays waste all the finer sensibili.
ties ofthe soul, and renders its p~ossessor too often.
a rebelto his God, q traitor to his country, a tor.
ment to himself, and a terror to his fellow-crea.
lures.
The influence Of Education-T mean mora
particularly moral culture-can alone save this
land from the most licentious population on the
globe--ap population representingthe shrewdnesss
enterprise and activity ofall christendom--a pos
~pulation, if wicked, the most powerful in evil; if
%yirtuous and intelligent, omnipotent for good.
Herein is the cui bono of the publicity of these
writings. They will equally serve as a warning
and exhortation. The author, if properly edu.
Gated, might have become an ornament to socie.
~, instead Of ending his days ignominiously on
a scafiold.
wish it to be distinctly understood, that my
business with this manuscript is merely editorial,
by correcting its photography and emitting rope.
%titions, to prepare it for the press. Mitchell,
whilst under sentence Of condemnation, address.
ed a ~letterto his father, of which | neither knew
nor heard any thing, till | read it atfew weeks
ago in the columns of this journal. II is scarce.
~ necessary for ne to say, that iii had seen il
and been consulted about il, / would have strong.
ly recommended more respectful language to a
parent.
II is well known he died avowing his limo.
cence ofthe murder Of McGahey. 1t is equally
matter ofnotoriety, that very few, comparatively,
believed his declaration. We leave him in the
hands of a righteous Judge, who knowcth the
secrets Of all hearts. Thinking It would afford
me, as a Clergyman, an admirable opportunity
Of intoxicating many salutary moral lessons upon
the young people who may read i, il was my
original intention to take upon myself the whole
responsibility of Mitchels biography, as far al
style is concerned, by writing ii from his owf
dictation, and COUGHING the subject-matter in M
own language. But this did not seem to NEE
his views. He would tell his own story in hi
own way, and perhaps il is well he has done so
Let the public have patience with me, and thel
ohah IeCSlFet IN regular lustdIhleHtsi W no HA
put into my hands for their use. Only DO il re
membefed that | have other duties which mus
not be neglected; that ! have to transcriba* tn,
whole Of manuscript, which, written in a dun.
geon, by an illiterate man, under sentence 0
execution, will be often found neither lacidiy mr.
ranged, nor intelligibly worded.
Such as it is. ! now present il 10 the reader
and remain, &e., &c., ] BURKE.
-
al owe it TO trath and tho public 10 state, that, see