32 LYNCH LAW IN FLORIDA. [CHAP. XXI. 



for putting down the thieves, who came from Florida, and hav 

 ing arrested one of them, named Yoermans, they appointed a 

 committee of twelve to try him. Witnesses having been sworn, 

 a verdict of guilty was returned, and the punishment of death 

 decided upon, by a vote of six to one. They then crossed from 

 Georgia into Florida, where the prisoner confessed, under the 

 gallows, that he was a murderer and robber, and called upon a 

 preacher of the gospel, three or four of whom were present, as 

 well as a justice of the peace, to pray for him, after which he 

 was hung. 



I expressed my horror at these transactions, observing that 

 Florida, if in so rude and barbarous a state, ought not to have 

 been admitted into the Union. My companions agreed to this, 

 but said they believed the man had fair play on his trial, and 

 added, &quot; If you were a settler there, and had no other law to 

 defend you, you would be glad of the protection of Judge 

 Lynch.&quot; 



The news had just reached Milledgeville and Macon of the 

 English premier s speech in favor of the free importation of 

 foreign corn, a subject discussed here with as much interest as 

 if it were a question of domestic policy. The prospect of in 

 creased commercial intercourse with England, is regarded by all 

 as favorable to peace, especially as the western states, the most 

 bellicose in the whole Union, will be the chief gainers. Even 

 before this intelligence arrived, the tone of the public mind was 

 beginning to grow somewhat less warlike. The hero in a new 

 cornic piece, on the stage at New York, personifies the member 

 for Oregon, and talks big about &quot; our destiny,&quot; and &quot; the whole 

 of Oregon or none.&quot; &quot;We also observe an extract from the 

 &quot; North American Review&quot; going the round of the newspapers, 

 in which the Oregon dispute is compared to Dandie Dinrnont s 

 famous law-suit with Jock o Dawston about the marches of their 

 farms, and Counsellor Pleydell s advice to his client is recom 

 mended for imitation. 



&quot; We should have a war to-morrow,&quot; said a Whig politician 

 to me at Macon, &quot; if your democracy were as powerful as ours, 

 for the most radical of your newspapers are the most warlike. 



