Baton-Rouge gazette. [volume] (Baton-Rouge, La.) 1819-1856, 1850-05-04
DEATH nv THE EYE,
Il. THE DUEL ON HORSEBACK
tFron Noah's Sau,oy Times

|
|
Colonel Bill berlin was The rene
ral,ss,,ao Of the Texan Lynchers. He
atell deserved HE tAle III lille .-Aieh be Aat
won by many n desperate deed. He
possessed such incredible skill in the
use OF all sorts of inurderous weapons
that IL might be pronounced virtua
suicide TO even think Of encountering
him. SO rapid was his motion. so uner.
ring his mortal aim. The terrible
cognomen Of "Death In the Eye" told
truly the mark at which he always
fired---a mark he had never once
missed-while such was his asionsh.
ing quickness that his antagonists
usually fell without pulling a trigger.
An enemy stood no better chance by
resorting TO The sword or bowie knife
against one in whose hands the flash
Of steel was like lightning--as swift,
ms mighty to slay--one who appeared
to surpass all other men rs much il,
strength as in ac'ivity--a giant in
stature, n gladiator in practice, a fend
in courage His biography in itself
was more thrilling than novel, vii.
der than The widest romance and
the very first act Of bis dreadful dar.
ing revealed. in all their force and
fullness, the two essential elements
Of his character--the ferocious ardor
of his appetite for revenge, and the
iron pertinacity Of his indomitable
will. At the age Of twenty he pur-
sued the assassin Of bis brother, all
the way from Carolina to Canada,
and shot him dead at The dinner table
Of tavern in Quebec; yet such had
been the cunning of his previous ar
rangements for the event, that aided
by numerous relays Of swift horses,
he effected his escape safely TO the
south. The achievement cost him
ten thousand dollars. From this time
forward his life wns one long war.
Almost every month in the year saw
him engaged in some fatal duel
fatal only to others, never hurtful to
him-while each week witnessed the
occurrence of cnsual alTrhys, often rs
bloody as his more regular coulbats.
lie was the Napoleon Of the knife and
pistol. But the truth Of impartial
history compels mo to record, that
this man. so fearful in his deeds,
whose right arm reeked with gore to
the elbow. whs not commonly the ag.
gressor in his countless quarrels. Of
ten the friends Of those he had van.
quished in fair fight assaulted him,
from motives Of revenge. The fame
Of his prowess provoked the vain
jealousy Of others. lie had acquired
the perilous reputation Of a matchless
hero--the ardent, the desperate, the
ambitious would win, If possible. his
laureIs. Every young Hercules long
ed TO kill the lion, so MS to clothe hin-
self in his skin, and thus was Berlin
forced to maintain mn interminable
war. II is so in oil professions.
There can be no peace in high places
storm. hnil. and thunder, must break
around the mountains brow.
This ducllist was one Of the earliest
settlers in Eastern Texas, where he
became the chief Of the Lynching
party. In bis own county of Harri-
son, he possessed boundless influence;
indeed. he would not suffer foe to
reside within its limits. Hence, he
might have openly defed the officers
Of the law. had such been his plea.
sure; but bis shrewd and ftr.seeing
sagacity adopted a wiser 4ad safer
course. After perpeiratipg iny homi-
eide, he Invariably submitted; his own
case to the grand jury, sure'of II tri-
umphant acquittal by his friends on
trial and thus. should public sen'i-
meat ever turn against him in the fu-
ture, he would be enabled TO plead
effectual yerdicts in bar Of all past
offences.
At length the time arrived which
the colonel had so long anticipated.
A wealthy and intelligent class Of ci-
tizens began to change the current Of
opinion in Harrison, so that in the
county election the friends Of order,
by "a slight majority, gained their
candidate for sheriff. This was ter
riblc blow to the Lynchers, as it de-
prived them Of their secure vantage
ground in packing juries and to in
crease their danger, Mt this unpropiti-
Gus crisis, new Judge was also ap-
pointed. The old faction, however,
did not despair. They were still nu-
merous, thoroughly armed, and des-
peradoes to a man, and determined,
at the first court, TO muster all their
strength, so as to control and overawe
their proceedings.
At nine o'clock in the morning OF
the second Monday in September,
1s42, the new judge took bis seat on
the bench. He was a stranger from
the west, whose name alone had
transpired, and whose appearance, at
first, inspired the desperadoes with
hope, and the friends Of order with