The Wadsworth dispatch. [volume] (Wadsworth, Nev.) 1892-1899, 1897-03-13
WadsWorth Dispatch,
PUBLISHED sEMi-wEEwLY
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ORIGINOFLYNCHL LAW
1T Is CLAIMED BY IRELAND AND THE
UNITED STATES.


Colonel Lynch Of L.ynchburg, Va. Versus
q Mayor of Galway, Ircland-The Lat
ter "a Rather Unusual Kind of Man.
1t seems to be n pnrt of the unwritten
law of the United States to hang some
criminals without the formality of a trial
fy jury.
Lynchburg, Va, advances q claim to
the originality of the Idea, and tho claim
is skillfully maintained by a reference to
we'll known facts that actually existed
prior to and during the Revolutionary
war. At that period the country was thin
~ settled and the cunts of Justice few
and FIR between. Desperadoes and Tories
Of a guerrilla type, taking advantage of
the unsettled condition Of affairs, plum
dered, robbed and killed indiscriminntely
wherever and whenever they pleased. A
distinguished officer OF the patriot Ameri-
can army; Colonel Charles Lynch, organ.
lied d protective force, arrested the cut
laws, and at u sort of d%ruinhead court mar,
tial first satisfied himself and his comrades
as to tho gnilt Of the accused and then
hanged them to the nearest tree without
reference tn tho constituted authorities. :
AT first this was known M Lynch's law,
and the termshas gradually become modi-
fled into What We know today as lynch
law. /,
Colonel 1Snch's brother founded Lynch
burg hence tho name Of that old town.
Now, as in fact nearly all Of our law,
both civil and military, comes from the
other, side ut tile water, they, too, over
there, have a claim that lynch law oriei-
mated with tsam, and in proof of the asser-
sion recitc a very curious. historical tradi-
tion which occurred during the reign OF
the seventh Henry In England. The sys-
tenn of governments was not then as COM
pletely developed in Europe as 1T IL today,
for barpnies, cities and leagues, although
often subserSient TT one great centralized
power, were In u measure independent OF
outside control npd managed their own
private e;iffai rs almost exclusively, except
during IL general CT foreign war, when
they united forces for mutual protection.
Galway, In Ireland, was one Of theee cities.
and Mayor james Lynch Fitzstephens was
the great LII Hung Chang, or chief mogul,
who was not only supreme judge, hut also
| COMMANDER of the militia, CHEF comptrol-
icr of finance, director of commerce, and
in fact the holder of all the political
plums worth having.
Mayor james Lynch Fitzstephens fonnd
IL necessary 10 send his eldest son to Spain
OIL. n commercial mission. The boy was Of
a wild, reckless disposition, and instead of
| attending to Lisfather's business, straight-
way got on q tear and soon ~squandered the
funds Entrusted to him In the widest sort
| of dissipation. This compelled him to Dor
row ~ largo suni or money nom q merchant
to whom he was accredited, and the usual
| result foIlowed-that of giving notes bear
ing his fathers name, every one "a forgery.
| However, with this money the young man
concluded his business arrangements, ana
when he, ON barked for home the nephew
of the money lender accompanied him back
to Ireland, where he was to receive pay
ment for the loun. !
Young Lynch was In q box. There was
no way 10 Q I'd personally settle so large
a debt. and he dared, Iot ayow his defnlcs-
tiQn to his father. So u night. while
calmly sailing across tho bay of Eiscay, he
induced some of the crew of the vessei'to
ssRist him, bought the silence of the rest,
and then. tie young Spaniard was seized,
bound hand and foot and quietly tossed
overheard. The. ship belonged to tho muir
derer's father, the seamen we're in his en-
ploy, and Spain was far distant. Return
Ing to GALWAY, he told his father a tale OF
how the young Spaniard had started with
him, but that u gale had blown the for
'eigner overheard, never mentioning, how
ever. the matter Of debt.
Years pissed on, and James Lynch Fltz.
stephens, Jr., now a prosperous merchant,
became as widely respected as his father,
but it was remarked that he did no bust
ness whatever with the Spanish houses,
One day the elder j.. Lynch Fitzstepbens
received a pressing summons to attend the
denth bed CT one of his old gamer who
had served him long INT faithfully. I'm
PEELED by remorse, the dying man let the
cat ont of $50 bag, confessing the whole
v~illainy Of the mayors only son and told
of his share in the crime. 1t was II fright
fui blow, but the old man determined to
do tho right thing, cost what 1t might.
His first act was to arrest his son, whom,
DESPITE the untreatics of his wife and rela-
tivcs, lie com slitted to prison oiltife charge
of murder. NJ The next to secure other evil
deDoe, which was obtained In the persons
IF four or five survivors and eyewitnesses,
those W ho had not taken part in the crime,
but merely looked on; the accomplices,
strangely onosgh, had either all d1ed OF
left for other parts,
Tho mayor, by virtue of his office, pre-
sided a5 t.io trial, heard the verdict OF
gully ard pronounced sentence OF death
on Lis { -. rev persons believed the SEN
tenoc would be executed, and many ra
solved t.i.t 1t should not. "Ne!>ler tho
laws of GCl nor man can demand such u
sacrifice ;it tla hands Of Il fathor," they
are.iod, "fu- 1t Is horrible, wicked and
| against nature, and, after all, 1t was only
! tho carcass q Il hated Spaniard in tho bal
ance agl,ugo Lis own SON.