and a legal trial by jury was considered an
useless formality if the accused happened to be black. A mob went to the
jail that night, the four colored men were delivered to the mob, and all
four were hanged in the court-house yard. The reporters evidently assumed
that Charles was guilty, if, in fact, he was ever there, because the other
four men were lynched. They did not consider it was a fact of any
importance that Charles was never indicted. They called him a murderer on
general principles.

+DIED IN SELF-DEFENSE+

The life, character and death of Robert Charles challenges the thoughtful
consideration of all fair-minded people. In the frenzy of the moment, when
nearly a dozen men lay dead, the victims of his unerring and death-dealing
aim, it was natural for a prejudiced press and for citizens in private
life to denounce him as a desperado and a murderer. But sea depths are not
measured when the ocean rages, nor can absolute justice be determined
while public opinion is lashed into fury. There must be calmness to insure
correctness of judgment. The fury of the hour must abate before we can
deal justly with any man or any cause.

That Charles was not a desperado is amply shown by the discussion in the
preceding chapter. The darkest pictures which the reporters could paint of
Charles were quoted freely, so that the public might find upon what
grounds the press declared him to be a lawbreaker. Unquestionably the
grounds are wholly insufficient. Not a line of evidence has been presented
to prove that Charles was the fiend which the first reports of the New
Orleans charge him to be.

Nothing more should be required to establish his good reputation, for the
rule is universal that a reputation must be assumed to be good until it is
proved bad. But that rule does not apply to the Negro, for as soon as he
is suspected the public judgment immediately determines that he is guilty
of whatever crime he stands charged. For this reason, as a matter of duty
to the race, and the simple justice to the memory of Charles, an
investigation has been made of the life and character of Charles before
the fatal affray which led to his death.

Robert Charles was not an educated man. He was a student who faithfully
investigated all the phases of oppression from which his race has
suffered. That he was a student is amply shown by the _Times-Democrat_
report of the twenty-fifth, which says:

"Well-worn textbooks, bearing his name written