have more cause of self-gratulation than the
wisest stumbler through the long dark paths of
ancient ignorance and error, and our modern
civilisation, with all its faults, is one of the most
glorious possessions which the world has ever
had.

JUDGE LYNCH' S MERCY.

ON one of the last days of the year 1858 I
was disagreeably aroused from a pleasant morning
dream by the report of a pistol close at
hand, followed in a few minutes by a straggling
volley of fire-arms, in which the crack of the
rifle blended harmoniously with the deeper note
of the shot-gun. Awakening to the consciousness
that I was in a miners' camp, on the
willowy bank of the Rio Gila, in the territory
of Arizona, United States, and that, apparently,
a little difficulty had occurred amongst my
neighbours, I hastily pulled on my boots, and
sallied forth from the wigwam of cane and
brushwood that had sheltered my repose.
All was quiet in our narrow clearing, the grey
mist was gently rising from the river under the
influence of the first rays of the sun, and upon
the stump of a cotton-wood-tree near the fire
sat my estimable, but rather eccentric, partner,
Abe, smoking the pipe of contentment, and
watching a pot of coffee through the boiling
crisis.

"Somebody shot at last," he remarked, in a
tone of grim satisfaction. "I reckon it's one
or two of the crowd t'other side of the slue,
and this child ain't sorry for it. Here's three
months now we've been in these Gila diggings,
and all the time there's been a heap of big
talk goin' on, and a lot of six-shooters drawn,
but nery man killed yet; now perhaps things will
get better and the place be quieter."

It must be acknowledged that a long
residence in California, and a severe course of
training in the mines during the "good old days" of
1849-50, had rather obscured my friend Abe's
ideas on the subject of homicide, which he was
in the habit of regarding as a safe and effectual
remedy for almost every species of social evil.

Leaving him, therefore, to prepare breakfast
and to muse over stern schemes for the amelioration
of society, I advanced cautiously towards
the scene of the disturbance, congratulating
myself upon the fact that I had never been
addicted to the practice of early rising, which
has such an evident tendency to sour the temper
and to lead men into dangerous brawls.

In an open glade of the willow-brake, where
a numerous party of "boys" had fixed their
abode, a young Virginian, with whom I was
slightly acquainted, lay on the ground severely
wounded. Most of his companions had started
in hot pursuit of the perpetrator of the act, who
had taken to flight, without awaiting the storm
which his pistol-shot had called forth. While I
was dressing the wound of my unlucky friend,
the other denizens of the camp returned from
their unsuccessful chase, and related to me all
the circumstances of the affair. It appeared
that for some time one of their comrades had
considered himself aggrieved upon a point
connected with the division of labour in digging
and "washing-out" the "dirt" from the claim,
and that the slumbering quarrel had that morning
been revived by some trivial circumstance. The
man with the grievance had been indiscreet
enough to address a very offensive remark to a
peculiarly muscular son of New York, who thereupon
knocked him down without further parley.
Having picked himself up, the discomfited
debater retired from the scene without uttering
another word, and it was prematurely taken for
granted that the row was at an end. In a few
minutes, however, a pistol-ball whistled through
the midst of the party gathered around the campfire,
missing the individual whose breast had been
aimed at, and striking an unfortunate youth who
had taken no part in the dispute, but happened
to be standing in the line of fire, his mind
absorbed in the preparation of indigestible
"slapjacks,"

The intending assassin had rather overrated
his skill in the use of the revolver. As may be
supposed, the deepest indignation was felt by
every one present, and rumour having quickly
carried a report of the occurrence to the remotest
corner of the diggings, a general determination
was expressed by the two or three hundred
miners scattered up and down the valley, to
arrest the fugitive and bring him for trial before
that terrible high-priest of Nemesis, the
ever-youthful and vigorous Judge Lynch. "His
Honour" could not in this case be accused of
usurping the functions of any more decorous
magistrate; the wilderness of which we were
the temporary inhabitants having been acquired
only a short time before by the government of
the United States, was totally unprovided with
regular tribunals. A few ardent and
public-spirited individuals eagerly volunteered to act
as constables, and there was every probability
that justice would be executed, although law
was without a representative in the community.

Towards evening we heard that the criminal
had voluntarily given himself up, and the entire
population of the mines assembled soon after
nightfall to "liquor" at the chief bar-room of
Gila City, as, according to American custom, a
score of tents and picket-houses were somewhat
inappropriately designated, almost every free
and independent citizen present being prepared
to enunciate deep legal opinions from the stores
of his Californian experience. The accused,
who was rather a fine-looking man, and a dandy
after the rough fashion of the mines, swaggered
about with an air of unconcern, and was treated
freely to drinks at the bar by his friends.

At length a grey-haired Texian farmer was
proposed, and unanimously elected, for the office
of judge, and there was no difficulty in finding
twelve men willing to act as jurymen. The first
choice was, perhaps, the most judicious that
could have been made, the mantle of Mr.
Justice Lynch having fallen upon an old man who
had crossed the plains a few months before,
driving his own team of oxen, and who had