Gallipolis journal. [volume] (Gallipolis, Ohio) 1837-1919, 1851-06-19

old 3 (set ia inches hlgns anu
Svs;obina v,,'; lust 81 pounds, was brought
,o,Re 0f;o Penitentid,g IN is0ns, TO
ss,.ge on, sentence Of thres years.
aEle could neither read nor write,
b,,t could chew tobacco, smoke cigars
and swear profanely, and in com
panv with other bad boys. run the
streets at all hours of the night"
As glanced my eye over me
above extract thrill Of horror went
10 my very soul. - ~.
turned nv eye from the paper,
and there at my feet sarmy wo boys,
one twelve aud the other ten; the
last the age Of the boy, James Muir
phy. Yes, there, playing cheerily
with his little boat, and in the pride
of his innocent heart spreading its
newspaper sal! and arranging its
single rudder. | gazed at him; !
scanned every feature of bis face,
looked into his clear blue eye; lis
tened TO his artless whistle, and asked
myself again and again: "Can it be
possible that tha. child could have
capacity enough to do a wrong that
should cause grave men and reverend
Judges to decide, after hours OF de-
liberation, that be should be immured
within the walls OF a prison for three
long years7 Could it be possible
that he would so understand the
nature of crime, or the moral obliga-
tions imposed upon him by society,
as to make him amenable TO the hard
stern laws, made for mentor sturdy
offenders grown old in crime and
sinl" felt that it was not possible
that no child OF ten, however preco-
cious, could so understand the law
of the land, or reaIize its obligations.
Oh! it was fearful to think of that
little one, shut up in a grated cell at
night; his almost infant head resting
upon a hard, cold pillow; his little
limbs racked and grown stiff with
tolls untitled for his years, and his
heart growing colder and harder
with each passing day. No mothers
gentle step will glide to his bedside
in the cherries night, when the
winds howl without and the storms
pelt upon the roof, to see if her boy
is comfortable; to smooth back the
hair from his brow, and in low soit
murmurings OF affection to teach
him to be good. No mothers tear
lure him away from the path OF crime;
no mothers love send him back to
repentance. The voice of sister
shall not greet him as he rises in The
morning, TO bid him bound forth to
his sports with free pure heart
What will he be at the end of three
yearsl That crime chiLd-that child
Of crime.
II his keepers are as hard as his
Judges, he will be not 0oy-a bold
light hearted boy-at thirteen, but a
demon grown old in iniquity-a
product Of the wrongs heaped upon
him, and with heart bloated with
madness and revenge. he will come
forth the victim Of society, to be
what if has made him-a pest--a
bloat-a hideous moral deformity-
ere other boys have done listening to
nursery songs. Must these things
bel Is there no remedyl
The writer Of the above paragraph
speaks earnestly for House of Cor
rection. We, too, would plead for
one, if there be such offenders. But
we would turn first to plead with the
father and mother, with society, that
these things may cease TO be.
"He could neither read nor write"
says our paragraph writer. Per-
chance he had no mother; but where
we're our free schoolsl Where our
charitable ladies, who spend so many
hours in sewing circles and mater
nal meetingsl Have they bee D
prompt to see that this boy, and
others like him, have been fed and
clothed, and made fit for the school
rooml or have they been busy think
ing of the heather in India, or the
isles of the sea, while this baby grew
up in the ways Of idolatry at theiI
very doorsi Where were all the
clergymen of the CRY, that teach ir
humility Christ and him crucifed
that go about doing goodl Had they
gone, as they should, into the streets
and highways, TO find the poor and
the needy, and teach the low, the
vile, wretched ones that the master
whom they follow, said, "Sufier little
children to come unto mei" Have
they utterly forgotten that it was to
the "lost sheep, of the house ol
Iserel," that their master was senn
But more earnestly still, we would
enquire, Where are our men-oul
respectable men-our city fathers
What have they done TO make better
this child-these children? Where
did he learn to chew tobacco. smoke
cigars, and use pro!ane languagel-
Have you al-all you who have
haan nalla1 a. 80 - itt1unaanf or