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Give Him Jus ice.The Negro rac * is not entirely destitute of heroes. We mentioned some time since, the ease of a Colored man, who had the courage to defend his homeagainst midnight assassins; and to express, also our indignation at the coward Iv butchery subsequently ac com plished by superior force upon thisblack hero- More recently, we have had another hero of the same sort Rose-mond Cormier, residing near the town of Lafayette, in thi* State of Louslana.He had been taken from his home and cruelly whipped, with a trace-end secured to a stick; and he swore on thatoccasion, to die defending himself rather than again submit to such a cruel and dishonoring indignity. And, the brave old Negro, whose age should have been a protection, was as good as his word. When, in the dead of the night, thirty or forty armed and masked ruffians approached his humble cot, and endeavored to force an entrance, old Cormier was ready with his sole weapon, a double-barrelled shot gun, One of his dastardly assailants was laid low in death, and probably others were also injured. Only \vhen bis last shot hadbeen tired, did this gallant defender seek safely in flight: but now the cowardly gang'felt safe, and they sought their helpless; victim who being found, was butchered in cold blood.Nor was this the worst horror of thathideous scene; a poor girl, entitled byreason of her sex and of tender age, to respect and pity, had her throat cut from ear to earThe ruffian who justly met ids doomupon this occasion, bore the name ofAristide Judice Comontv, a Gallic name. No doubt, most of his associates in thiswretched crime bore similarly, names of French origin. How have they all disgraced the honorable blood of their brave and virtuous Acadian ancestors!In this same portion of our State, there is organized a secret and illegal association, called Regulators. It has its bands, with commanders and officers high and low. Its members aim at taking the law into their own hands, and administering so-called justice, according to their own notions. And thematerial of this klan, is taken from among planters, lawyers, doctors andmerchants. True it is, that the humbleand helpless Negro is now the object of their attacks; but, how long will it beberore similar organizations arise, toffyat higher game.Tnere is one rampart of protection for all; that is the law ot the land, and its organized courts. The spirit of lawlessness is like the genie which the fisherman released from the flask Though at first, perhaps, a seeming cloud, it comes soon to be a terrible and powerful destroyer. It may be that ordinary justicefails occasionally ; that men who deservepunishment escape for a time. But, such escapes can he no more than temporary; ami justice, huiqan or Divine, must overtake every crime-In any aspect of the ease, to appeal to mob law, is to introduce an evil much more grave : it is to hand the destinies of a community over to the reckless and the Sanguinary,The leaders of our Lafayette Regulators disclaim responsibility for this latest hideous butchery: general enlightened opinion will overrule their disclaimer. So, unless this organization be at ouee disrupted, these planters, doctors, merchants and lawyers, claiming to he respectable, will have other occurrences in the future, as beastly as this one, to similarly disclaim.There is only one way for the mass of these Regulators to convince the world that they are not all crushers of eld men’s skulls, and cutters of the throats of girls: that way is to put an end at once to tneir midnight association, and to lend every help possible to bringing the immediate culprits to fustipe.—Holy Family. Nno Orleans.
Newspaper Details
American Catholic Tribune
Cincinnati, Ohio, US
Sat, Oct 05, 1889
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
USA 28 May 2023
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