OCR Text |
Show 450 TilE LILY AND THE TOTEM. " Gone !'' he answered, in her own dialect. " Gone! L et us depart also !" And thus speaking, they joinad their tawny follow •rs who awaitad them in the neighboring thicket. within the shadows of which they soon disappeared from sigh~. XL MORALS Oi' REVENGE. HISTORIANS have been divided in opinion with regard to the propriety of that wild justice which Dominique de Gourgues inflicted upon the murd"rcrs of his countrymen at La Caroline.. One class of writers hath preached from the text, " V cngcancc is mine s:1ith the L ord;" another from that whic!J, permissive rather than nw.ndatory, declares that 11 'Vhoso shcddcth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shcd.11 Charlevoix regrets that so remarkable an achievement ns thnt of Gourgues, so honorable to the nation, and so glorious for himself, should not have been terminated by an act of clemency, which, sparing the survivors of the Spanish forta, should have contrasted beautifully with the brutal behavior of the Spaniards under the like circumstances ; ns if the enterprise itsolf had anything but revenge for its object; as ir the butcheries 'vhich accompanied the SC\'cral attacks upon the Spnnish forts, and the butcheril!s which followed them-where the victims were trembling and flying men -\vere any wllit more justifi:~ble tl1an tho single, terrible act of m:'I.SSilcre which ttppropriately fu rnished tho catastrophe to tho whole drama! If the Sp:minrds were to be spared at all, why the enterprise at all ? No wrong \Vtt.'J then in progress, to be defeated by interposition; no dcsi:rn of rcco,•ering French tcrritQry or re-m:tablish- DOMINIQUE DE GOURGUES. 451 ing the French colony was in contemplation, making the enterprise necessary to success hereafter. ~'he entire purpose of the expedition was massacre only, and a bloody vengeance! It is objected to this expedition of Gourgues, that repris.-'l.}s arc rarely possible without working some injustice. This would be an argument against all law and every social government. Dut it is snid that revenge does not always find out the right victim, particularly in Fmch o. case as the present, and tha\ the innocent is frequently made to suffer for the guilty. Gourgues could not, it would seem, have greatly mistaken his victims, when we find one of them confessing to the murder of five of the Ilugucnots by hie own hand, and none of them disclaiming a pnrticipation in the crime. But there is a. better answer even than this inst~mcc affords, and it conveys one of those warni11.-. lessons to society, tho neglect of which too frequently results 7n ita discomfiture or ruin. 1'ha.t society or nation wl1ioh is unable or unwilling to prevent or punish the offender within its own sphere and province, must incur bis penalties ; and this principle once recognized, it becomes imperative with every citizen to take heed of the public conduct of his fellow, and the proper exercise of right and justice on the part of his ruler. There arc, no doubt, difficulties in the way of doing this always; but what if it wore commonly understood and fdt that each citi1.eo had thus at heart tho wholesome ndministration of cxt\Ct justice on the pnrt of the society in which he lived, and the Government which can exist only by tho sympathies of the people ? How prompt would be the remedy furnished by the ruler to the suffering party! how slow tho impulse to wrong on the part of the criminal! The suggestion that magnanimity and mercy shown to the |