g, all turned
towards the judge, and looking over the shoulders of the one in front of
him, and busily employed in carving at the bench between his thigh and
that of his neighbour. It was a very singular _coup-d'oeil_, and a
new-comer from Europe would have supposed the assembly to have been a
"whittling club."

Having surveyed the company, I then paid attention to the case on trial,
and, as I was just behind the defendant, I soon learned how justice was
executed in Texas, or, or least, in Texian Boston. It appeared that the
defendant was the postmaster and general merchant of the country. Two
or three weeks back, the son of the plaintiff had entered his shop to
purchase his provision of coffee, sugar, and flour, and had given him to
change a good one-hundred-dollar bill of one of the New Orleans banks.
The merchant had returned to him a fifty-dollar note and another of ten.
Two hours afterwards, the young man, having swapped his horse,
carriole, and twenty dollars, for a waggon and two couple of oxen,
presented the fifty-dollar note, which was refused as being
counterfeited. The son of the plaintiff returned to the merchant, and
requested him to give him a good note. The merchant, however, would
not: "Why did you take it?" said he; "I be damned if I give you any
other money for it." Upon which the young man declared it was shameful
swindling, and the merchant, throwing at him an iron weight of nine
pounds, killed him on the spot.

The attorney, who was now pleading for the defendant, was trying to
impress upon the jury that the murder had been merely accidental,
inasmuch as the merchant had thrown the missile only in sport, just to
scare away the fellow who was assaulting him in his own house; but,
strange to say, no mention was made at all of the note, though everybody
knew perfectly well that the merchant had given it, and that it was a
part of his trade to pass forged notes among his inexperienced
customers. As soon as the lawyer had ended the defence, the merchant
was called upon by the judge to give his own version of what occurred.
He rose:

"Why," said he, "it was just so as has been said. I wished not to hurt
the fellow; but he called me a swindler. Well, I knew the man was in a
passion, and I did not care. I only said, `How dare you, Sir?' and I
threw the piece of iron just to frighten him. Well, to be sure, the
blackguard fell down like a bull and I thought it was a humbug. I
laughed and said,