The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1858-01-09
Fouth,a prpartmrmt.
Lead Us Not Into Temptation,

The following very interesting narrative Il
iio trial IN q criminal court Of boy for steal,
4 Ing dime, which had been purposely left
4 Ia his way by bis employer 70 "test his
honesty" and while We cannot but rejoice Ia
his acquitted, under the circumstances, we
must confess that the boy was wrong IN tax
iuR The money II was certainly a very
wicked thing on the part Of the employer, 10
tempt the YOUTH but That does not excuse
/ the thc0, We can never ip,rniy appro,
pirate what We know does not belong To u.s.,
under any circumstances whate,eri while, al
the same time, II d equally as criminal TO
/ pot any person Ia the way Of temptation for
the sake Of trying hiA hnHsAiy-
!, The lads employer, q wealthy, misery, and
uupdue.plel manufacturer, had made use Of
I the dime for what he called testing the "boy's
/ houody" II was placed where, from its
very position, the lad would oficnc.t see II
and least suspect the trap, A day passed,
and the maslel, 10 his modification, not
( pleasure, found the cola untouched, Another
day passed aud his object was not gained,
/ tic WIS however, dctcrnipcl that tho boy
should take 40 hclpt II remain, This con-
tinucd temptation was 90 much for the boys
resistance, The dime wa, taken, 4 simple
prevent for TINT little s7trr was purchased By
/ Il, Bat while returning home 10 ghdch her
heart his own was made heavy los being
arrested for lhc0 crime, the nature Of
which he little knew, These circumstances
were mbslontiuiod by several Of his employ
cr's wurkmcn, who were also parties 10 the
plot An attorney urged upon the jury the
NECESSITY Of making this "liltlc rogue" an
example TO others by punishment, III, adj
dress had great effect upon all that heard IT,
Before, could see many tears Of sympathy
( Cor The lad, and bis widowed mother aud
faithful sister But their eyes were an dry
nov, aud mono looked ns if they cared rJr
or expected aught but conviction.
The occuscr sat la conspicuous place,
snllmgOs If in Gcndjsh cSul,adon, over that
po6r but once happy fimily,
/ We felt thpr1hcrc was but little hope for
the boy-0'd the youthful appearance Of the
attorney who had volunteered his dcfsucc,
gave no encouragement, us We learned that
II was the young mans maiden plea, hi, first
. address. lie appeared greatly confused and
reached 10 a desk by him. from which he
took the Bible that had been used to sol.
cmGilc the testimony. Til, movement wa,
received with general laughter and taunling
rcmarks-amoug which W. heard harsh
fellow, close D, US, cry out
Gle forget, whore be M Thinking TO take
hold of some poudcrou, law book, he ha,
made a mistake and got the Bible"
I The remark made the young attorney flush
with anger and turning his flashing eye upon
the mlicnce he convinced them it was no
mistake 10y saying
ia Nicc.wauts no other book"
His confusion was gone and instantly he
'7- rutrT- ~ t'rr vu1rr j1JtEC uT1yI tIc tJI-ct.
The Bible was opened and every eye was
upon him MS he quietly and lcisurcly turned
over the leaves. Amilsra brcoIhlcss silence
he read to the jury this sentence:
"Lead ug mt into tcmp;oijoH."
T. \ minute ofunbrd;cpslcrc, followed and
again he read
LeadmHothiia LlAlplaiiaa.o
We felt our hearts throb at the sound Of
tlAso words The audience looked at each
otlNr. without speaking, and the jurymcn
Dsnicly exchanged glauccs as the appropriate
quotation carried It's moral to their hearts
Then followed an address, which for it's,
pathetic cloqucncc, we have never heard cx-
celled. Its influence was like magic.
We saw the guilty uceuscr leave the room
for fear fpcrsonal violence. The prisoner
looked hopeful and before its conclusion,
there was not an eye in the court that was
not moIst-ihe speech utircJiUgto TINT Jtrgrru-
which causes tears, holding its nearer spell
bound
The little time that was necessary to trans
pirc before the verdict Of the jury could be
learned was period of great suspense But
when their Whispering consultation ceased
and as those happy words, "Not Guilty"
came from the foreman they passed like
thrill Of electricity from lip to lip the austcrc
dignity of the court was forgotten, and not
voice was there that did not Join in the
reclamation that hnilcA the lads release.