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THE REGULATORS. 



The population of many parts of America is derived from the refuse 

 of every other country. I hope I shall elsewhere prove to you, kind 

 reader, that even in this we have reason to feel a certain degree of pride, 

 as we often see our worst denizens becoming gradually freed from error, 

 and at length changing to useful and respectable citizens. The most de- 

 praved of these emigrants are forced to retreat farther and farther from 

 the society of the virtuous, the restraints imposed by which they find in- 

 compatible with their habits and the gratification of their unbridled pas- 

 sions. On the extreme verge of civilization, however, their evil propen- 

 sities find more free scope, and the dread of punishment for their deeds, 

 or the infliction of that punishment, are the only means that prove effec- 

 tual in reforming them. 



In those remote parts, no sooner is it discovered that an individual has 

 conducted himself in a notoriously vicious manner, or has committed 

 some outrage upon society, than a conclave of the honest citizens takes 

 place, for the purpose of investigating the case, with a rigour without 

 which no good result could be expected. These honest citizens, selected 

 from among the most respectable persons in the district, and vested with 

 powers suited to the necessity of preserving order on the fi'ontiers, are 

 named Regulators. The accused person is arrested, his conduct laid 

 open, and if he is found guilty of a first crime, he is warned to leave the 

 country, and go farther from society, within an appointed time. Should 

 the individual prove so callous as to disregard the sentence, and remain 

 in the same neighbourhood, to commit new crimes, then wo be to him ; 

 for the Regulators, after proving him gviilty a second time, pass and exe- 

 cute a sentence, which, if not enough to make him perish under the in- 

 fliction, is at least for ever impressed upon his memory. The punishment 

 inflicted is generally a severe castigation, and the destruction by fire of 

 his cabin. Sometimes, in cases of reiterated theft or murder, death is 

 considered necessary ; and, in some instances, delinquents of the worst 

 species have been shot, after Avhich their heads have been stvick on poles, 

 to deter others from following their example. I shall give you an account 

 of one of these desperadoes, as I received it from a person who had been 

 instrumental in bringing him to punishment. 



