Some of the charivari party
had to fly, or they might have ended their days in the penitentiary.
"There was runaway nigger from the States came to the village, and
set up a barber's poll, and settled among us. I am no friend to the
blacks; but really Tom Smith was such a quiet, good-natured fellow,
and so civil and obliging, that he soon got a good business. He was
clever, too, and cleaned old clothes until they looked almost as
good as new. Well, after a time he persuaded a white girl to marry
him. She was not a bad-looking Irish woman, and I can't think what
bewitched the creature to take him.
"Her marriage with the black man created a great sensation in the
town. All the young fellows were indignant at his presumption and
her folly, and they determined to give them the charivari in fine
style, and punish them both for the insult they had put upon the
place.
"Some of the young gentlemen in the town joined in the frolic. They
went so far as to enter the house, drag the poor nigger from his
bed, and in spite of his shrieks for mercy, they hurried him out
into the cold air - for it was winter - and almost naked as he was,
rode him upon a rail, and so ill-treated him that he died under
their hands.
"They left the body, when they found what had happened, and fled.
The ringleaders escaped across the lake to the other side; and those
who remained could not be sufficiently identified to bring them to
trial. The affair was hushed up; but it gave great uneasiness to
several respectable families whose sons were in the scrape."
"Good heavens! are such things permitted in a Christian country?
But scenes like these must be of rare occurrence?"
"They are more common than you imagine. A man was killed up at W - -
the other day, and two others dangerously wounded, at a charivari.
The bridegroom was a man in middle life, a desperately resolute and
passionate man, and he swore that if such riff-raff dared to
interfere with him, he would shoot at them with as little
compunction as he would at so many crows. His threats only increased
the mischievous determination of the mob to torment him; and when he
refused to admit their deputation, or even to give them a portion of
the wedding cheer, they determined to frighten him into compliance
by firing several guns, loaded with peas, at his door. Their salute
was returned from the chamber windows, by the discharge of a
double-barrelled gun, loaded with buck-shot. The crowd gave back
with a tremendous yell. Their leader was shot through the heart, and
two of the foremost in the scuffle dangerously wounded. They vowed
they would set fire to the house, but the bridegroom boldly stepped
to the window, and told them to try it, and before they could light
a torch he would fire among them again, as his gun was reloaded, and
he would discharge it at them as long as one of them dared to remain
on his premises.
"They cleared off; but though Mr. A - - was not punished for the
ACCIDENT, as it was called, he became a marked man, and lately
left the colony, to settle in the United States.
"Why, Mrs. Moodie, you look quite serious. I can, however, tell you
a less dismal tale, A charivari would seldom be attended with bad
consequences if people would take it as a joke, and join in the
spree."
"A very dignified proceeding, for a bride and bridegroom to make
themselves the laughing-stock of such people!"
"Oh, but custom reconciles us to everything; and 'tis better to give
up a little of our pride than endanger the lives of our
fellow-creatures. I have been told a story of a lady in the Lower
Province, who took for her second husband a young fellow, who, as
far as his age was concerned, might have been her son. The mob
surrounded her house at night, carrying her effigy in an open
coffin, supported by six young lads, with white favours in their
hats; and they buried the poor bride, amid shouts of laughter, and
the usual accompaniments, just opposite her drawing-room windows.
The widow was highly amused by the whole of their proceedings, but
she wisely let them have their own way. She lived in a strong stone
house, and she barred the doors, and closed the iron shutters, and
set them at defiance.
"'As long as she enjoyed her health,' she said, 'they were welcome
to bury her in effigy as often as they pleased; she was really glad
to be able to afford amusement to so many people.'
"Night after night, during the whole of that winter, the same party
beset her house with their diabolical music; but she only laughed at
them.
"The leader of the mob was a young lawyer from these parts, a sad,
mischievous fellow; the widow became aware of this, and she invited
him one evening to take tea with a small party at her house. He
accepted the invitation, was charmed with her hearty and hospitable
welcome, and soon found himself quite at home; but only think how
ashamed he must have felt, when the same 'larum commenced, at the
usual hour, in front of the lady's house!
"'Oh,' said Mrs. R - -, smiling to her husband, 'here come our
friends. Really, Mr. K - -, they amuse us so much of an evening that
I should feel quite dull without them.'
"From that hour the charivari ceased, and the old lady was left to
enjoy the society of her young husband in quiet.
