Miscellaneous Examples. - Shocking Effects of Gambling. For several days they were greatly excited by their loss. At length, some planters and merchants visited the city from the same parish in which they resided, and these young men, being acquainted and favorites with these respectable visitors, were invited by them to a wine party; and after dinner was over, they sat at their wine until evening, when all of them, being highly stimulated, started out to scour through the city. They finally came to Bank's Arcade, where they "cut up very high." During this time, those two young men became very disagreeable, and the elder, I think, of the two, filled the hat of one of the party with spirits and set it on fire, and then they all joined hands and danced around it. This is mentioned to show how far the party were carried away by the excess of the day. It was afterwards agreed by the company in general, that they should go from the Arcade to the Planter's Hotel, on Canal Street. They went, and there they called for more liquor, which they drank. They then called for supper. During the time that the supper was being prepared, these young men were very troublesome, and one of them struck one of his best friends, and tried to raise a difficulty with one of the innkeepers. They still kept up their riotous conduct until they were called to supper. They went in, and as soon as they had supped, returned to the bar-room. Here they called for more liquor, the younger brother calling for wine. The liquor was set out to them in decanters, as usual, and he ordered one of the bar-keepers to pour the wine into the glass, and damned him to do it without hesitation. The bar-keeper picked up the decanter and handed it to him; and with that the young man drew a bowie-knife, and told him to do it instantly. The bar-keeper, being frightened, obeyed him, and then Miscellaneous Examples. Shocking Effects of Gambling. set the decanter to one side, and attempted to go out from behind the bar, and get rid of this youth; but, unfortunately for the bar-keeper, he had, in his fright, given him brandy instead of wine; and as soon as he tasted it, he threw glass and all in the face of the bar-keeper, and blinded him. He then jumped over the bar, caught him, and pulled him across the counter, and drawing his bowie-knife, he ran it in behind his right shoulder, and out just below the left breast, and killed him instantly. The servants and the other bar-keepers ran; he ran also, and tried to catch some of the rest of them. The guard came and attempted to take him; but his brother and he fought the guard off, and made their way to the City Hotel, and went to their room to sleep. In the mean time the guard increased their number, broke in upon them, and made them both prisoners. They had retired, apparently not knowing what had been done, and the knife, all bloody, laid under the head of this unfortunate young man. On the following morning they were both brought up and tried; the youngest was remanded, and the eldest held to bail. As there was great excitement prevailing throughout the city, it was thought best not to push his trial for a few weeks, as the young man that was murdered was very respectable. The trial at length commenced, and I think it lasted some three weeks, though I do not exactly remember the duration of it. Throughout the trial the excitement was very great, and it sometimes rose to such a pitch, that it was thought the prison would be torn down by his enemies, at other times by his friends; there were also, during the progress of trial, many attempts, both fair and foul, to get him a chance to flee, but all to no purpose. There was constantly a string of this young Miscellaneous Examples. Shocking Effects of Gambling. man's friends visiting him, not of the kind that had been the occasion of his dreadful situation, but those whose friendship was sincere and honorable. The old lady, his mother, was constantly and most anxiously engaged, (both herself and fortune,) and there was no sacrifice which she was not ready to make to obtain the rescue of her poor fallen son; the fortunes of the two sisters were also devoted to the same purpose. His brother was as kind as it was possible for a brother to be; but all could not save him. He had the best counsel in the city; but that availed nothing, notwithstanding over twenty thousand dollars were expended in procuring their services. His guilt being unquestionable, the jury brought in a verdict of guilty. The only remaining hope now was, that he might possibly obtain a new trial, or, if that failed, to get him reprieved by the executive of the state. The motion, however, for a new trial, and the application for a reprieve, were both unsuccessful. His aged mother, immediately upon the failure to get a new trial, went to the governor, and on her knees implored him to spare the life of her son; but the governor declined giving her an answer until the next morning. When the morning came, she received the sad, and, to her, heart-rending intelligence that her son must die. Again she waited on the governor with a petition signed by a great number of citizens, and again on her bended knees entreated him to pardon that doomed son, who had been misled and brought to ruin by a set of desperate villains; but all to no purpose. Again she received the fatal news that he must die. She then made another attempt; she prayed that his sentence might be commuted for imprisonment for life in the penitentiary; but this he likewise refused, and told her that all her intercession for Miscellaneous Examples. Shocking Effects of Gambling. him would be unavailing, that he must suffer the penalty that had been awarded. She, nevertheless, made one more effort; this was, that he might be respited for the term of one year; but this, like all the preceding applications, was denied. Every door of hope now appeared to be closed; and it was a most heart-rending sight to see the mother and the two daughters leaving the governor's mansion, with unutterable grief and anguish depicted in their countenances. They moved on slowly and silently towards the prison, where the condemned son and his brother were waiting in the most agonizing suspense, to hear the news, which at best they knew would be dreadful enough. None appeared to have courage enough to tell him, except his youngest sister; and it was agreed that she should be speaker on this mournful occasion. With silent steps the daughter and mother approached the cell of this poor, unfortunate young man. When he inquired what news they brought from the governor, the youngest sister told him that he must die. They wept over one another as if their hearts would break. The mother then knelt by the side of her poor son, and prayed that God would pardon his sins, and give him grace and courage to encounter the dreadful trial that awaited him. The mother and sisters then bade him their last farewell. They then retired, and the brother entered his cell. Silence prevailed for some time; it was finally broken by the younger. Well," said he, "brother, I must die; mother says that on to-morrow I have to be executed, and bid a final adieu to my mother, my sisters, and my brother; and I am to be hung, too, like a dog, to gratify the vengeance of my enemies." "No!" replied the elder brother, "you shall not die like a dog; you must die Miscellaneous Examples.-Shocking Effects of Gambling. 66 like a man!" and then pulled out the same knife with which his brother committed the murder, and said, "Your mother, your brother, and your sisters, all wish you to take your own life, in preference to being hung like a dog." Well," said the younger brother," your request is granted, and not for one hour will your brother be alive after you leave this cell; but, brother, remember our mother and dear sisters when I am gone; I have heaped mountains of trouble on their heads. O! take care that you do not fall by the same bad men that have brought your brother to an untimely grave." He then bade his brother farewell, and they parted. His brother had been gone only a few minutes, when the keeper visited the cell of this young man. He rapped at the door, but all was silent. He then opened the shutter of the blind door, and saw this youth lying prostrate on the floor of his cell, his eyes closed in death; he had stabbed himself to the heart. As soon as this was known, the excitement was tremendous; the friends of the murdered man swore that they would have the body, and hang it at all hazards. He committed suicide in the afternoon, and that evening it was said that he was to have been executed in the prison-yard. The brother and some friends took the body and carried it some miles above the city, and there they put it aboard the Bayou Sarah packet, and carried it to the parish of Feliciana, where he was buried with all the honors that would have been paid to men who had lived an upright life, and had died the most honorable death. A few months passed away, and the younger sister was taken sick and died; indeed, she had never been well since the dreadful occurrence that has just been related; and thus was the grief of this poor old lady greatly in |