Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1870-04-29
From the Sunday Times
,nTEL ~ THE DARK.
Er JUDGE ARLINGTON.

Hr JUDGE ARLINGTON.
rea.y9 o.. Eicksburg, Mississippi. has al
..... been remarkable even before the re-
. 7sr gave her profound national inter
,-- Many years ago she supplied the class
.f writer's who furnish the substratum for
,al,. 1. the circulating libraries, with plots
dark and dreadful enough to satisfy even the
present craving for sensation. The place
had been noted since It's earliest settlement
.r the beiligcrent character Of its inhabi
rut-. and the number and atrocity Of the
violent deeds which stained Its streets with
-le blood of human hearts.
1t is not our present purpose, however, 70
sketch any Of these more celebrated brute
battles, but merely 20 select, for the sake Of
.-s mourniul moral alone, a solitary tragedy,
which was briefly chr0niclcd by the press Of
the day, and which then faded from the re-
collection Of all, save one from whom the
writer received the story in all It's particular
Irv Nir, Of course. could never forget To
the latest hour OF her existence the wife ot
tue murdered hero wept at the sad rcmin-
iscencc.
In the year l~2-. a Young lawyer, John
Thomas. emigratel from Worcester, IN Mass
achusctts. o. the STATE of Mississippi lie
was poor and had recently married beautiful,
accomplished woman. who had renounced
wealthy parents i8r bis sake. and hence was
anzi1u- % better his fortune in as little time
as possible This consideration determined
the legal aiyenturcr to locate at Nicksburg,
then considered through the west as the par
aJise of the bar.
In a very short time the new lawyer had
ample reasons to congratulate himself on the
choice of HE position Ills bland demeanor,
studiou- habits, and more than all, his elo-
quencc 10 debate. won him patronage and
he rose. almos, NJ "a single bound, to the first
place in his profession. lie was employed in
an the land suits. and in most of the still
more numerous and equally lucrative cases Of
homicide. go that in the period Of two years
after his advent be had cleared the round sum
of thirty thousand dollars. Let no sceptical
disciple Of Lord Coke deem this statement
incredible. = ). prcntiss, realized, cash in
hand. forty Thousand dollars by his opening
speech in Nicksburg.
During his career thus far young Thomas
was remarkable in one respect. lie never
went armed. aad although in the fierce and
fiery alterations OF the forum lie necessarily
made some enemies, no attack had hitherto
been ventured on his person. The athleu-
cism of his noble form. and the look of in-
yinciBle determination in his keen blue eyes,
had doubtless warned the desperadoes that
90 the Yankee orator, rs he was generally
termed. could hit as hard blows in the court
ward a. he did in the court itself However
this may be- two years elapsed, years too Of
eminent success. before the peaceablc att0r-
ney was even insulted Alas this halcyon
period was doomed 70 a change alike sudden
and terrible.
There resided a. taat time Ia the town a
notorious dueilist by the name of johnson.
whose matchless proves inspired universal
fear. lie had slain half q dozen foes on the
public ' field of honor, and as many in pri-
yate and irregular encounters. Allthe mem
ber- of .' the bloody fancy club spoke Of
Nike J0hust0n's fcat- with rapturous cnthu-
-iasm. But all good men. all lovers Of Veacc
when the ' brave wretch passed. turned
tale. and were silent.
At the Nav term of the District Court,
IS39, the grand jury. mastering extraordi-
nary courage. returned true bill against
johnson for the murder Of William lee, an
inofensive youth whom he had shot down in
drunken ir1lic, under circumstances of pc
culiar aggrayation Thomas was retained by
friend Of the deceased to aid in the prose-
cution, and notwithstanding the earnest ad-
vice of his well-wishcrs to the contrary, ap-
pearei on the trial of the cause-one Of the
most exciting ever argued at the bar o
Eicksburg On the last evening of the ses-
sion. after adjournment. Thomas rushed int.
the presence Of his wife. with looks Of such
evident agitation as % lll her soul with over
powering alarm.
Nv love. tell me. IN the name If heaven,
what has happened 2' she cried, pale as a
c5rpse, and shaking like a leaf in the wind.
&. Nothing, answered the husband, think
to conceal the most fearful part Of the intel
Hcence '' Nothing, only the murderer,
Mike johnson. after his acQuittal, grossly in
suited me in the courtyard, and ! knocked
him down
.. And he challenged YOU to fight hin
with pistols ''' almost shriekcd the wife, an
ticipating the rest, with the quickness of wo
man's keen common sense.
"It is even 50, replied the lawyer
msrniully.
Oh say that You viii not meet him
Oh swear that You viii not turn duellist id
this S,llm of the south So implored the wife
throwing her arms around his neck, and
slbbing like a child on his bosom.
There. do not weep now. will moi
turn duellist. dear Emma. although ! much
tear that the consequence viii be my ruin. -
" God viii protect you from the bold, bad
man
The next morning it was known in \Icks
arr that the " Yankee orator had beer
.allcnged and refused to fight Accord
Inclv. be was generally denounced as COW
ari-a word which at that day might be con.
-idered as expressing far deeper scJrn than
either r0J5rr or cssassH. As he passed
through the streets, he was ast0nished to wit
ness the GOODNESS manifested by his old ac-
quaintances, and even proiessed friends
while the great mass Of the people seemed
% regard him with inefa5le contempt
Yankee white liver, .' boaster, '' pol
rr5on." were the sounds most frequently
rung in his ears, especially when near Tho
groceries, and there WAS one then on every
terrace Of the broken hills.
The matter grew sull worse About q
week asterward, johnson met his victim II
the public square, presented a cooked pisto
at his heart with one hand, and belaboreC
him numerically with a cowhide which h'
cruspcd in the ether. Resistance at the mo
mcnt wqs altogether out of the question, fol
the slightest motion would have been the 2
nal for immediate death lie thought o
Emma and her sweet babe. and bore the cas-
u-au1n in silence.
Alter tins clients deserted his Office. anC
g.".tn''H refused o. recognize him VI retur.
MS eau" 10 he tho71ughftres of business
9r Guiu'- His morning sJrols over the hills
liHu nl7 ''uih been contagon or his nreatl
pestllenee. hc could not have been ip,,re c,,re
fully slammed
Another week passed and the DEGRADED
lawyer was in a state Of iairJ b,rs.rlr,, ~,
insanity and Yet all the while bc r,.,,.,-,l..
the mental torture from his afscti..raf, Wiz,
One evening, in a more than comlnonlv h;,to
and gloomy mood, as be walked throucb ~,
public square. he was again accos;ed hy Mix
johnson. with his cooked pistol 10 one Ian
and upilted cowhide in tie other The as
sault vas the more aggravatins as the plac
was thronged with spectators.
Coward and william ~ exclaimed Johr
son, " did not tell you that would cowhit
vou every week, until | whipped the oouras
Of a man and a gentleman into your yank'
hi1e?'
am not coward, " retorted Thoma
in a hallow tone. 80 unearthly fierce an
wild that it caused every hearer TO star
At the instant, his lips were livid, an
clenched between his teeth till the blood rar
His eyes were red as a mad dogs, and tn
muscles of his face quiyered but his bod
and limbs seemed to have the rigidity
marble
- lie will fight now rung in an cage
whisper through the exclted crowd. as the
saw the terrible tokens of the fend arouse
the hend which turks, at different depth.
in all human natures.
IS If you are not coward, why will 70
not hght?'' asked the dgellist, somewha
struck, in spite of his thorough desperation
hardened in the hot gore OF dozen murder,
o." | 'ciH fight if you wish it, was the lou
ringing answer.