Lexington weekly intelligencer. (Lexington, Mo.) 1871-1887, 1873-06-25
''He Murdered He Father"
Din. rnlnE.

Thcro was not probably a happier
homo IN the world than the Cilaiid8I-
!ofss when lfirst knew 1t; when the
beauty, r%ofineincnt and grace Of yfr-
tuous youth; tho dignity, gentleneSs
and purity Of Christian manhood
tillcd tho house with tho sunlight OF
Intelligence and peace. Now there
Is not u moro fearful wrcck OH tho
shores of timc than that h~carthstonc
by which | sat In the frat year Of my
pastoral life.
But am appalled, by tho tragedy
that has forced this story into tho
blaze of tho worlds great owe. DAYS
aud weeks have now pissed since wo
were stunned by tho report that Mr..
Walworth had been murdered by lis
son, but | get no moro adjusted 10 it's
possibility than at tho first hearing
oft. ! coufess to o feeling of con.
tonpt rs far q little reptile who has
struck Ills deadly fang into the breast
OF his benofactOr, and 1 wantto know
what was tho intellectual grade of
the precocious monster of d~enravity.
II would bc we'll, in forming a iud1-
meut OF tho degree of his demonisni,
10 learn If he had tho ordinary capac-
ity of full-grown boys. Tho state.
ment that no read TO the Corouer's
Jury is rather tho production ola half
iaiot than that of youth of ordinary
Intelligence. And it is quite likely
that Mi. O'CDnor, who sat by and
advised TO lis reading, has it in re-
serve as part OF his defence /; that thu
boy is not oven Of average common
sense, and therefore, not fully respon-
siblc for his conduct. We know that
idiots arc brutal and sometimes cum
ming. in their craftincss to get victims
for their lusts or revenge. Insanity
does not 'cnter into tho possibilities
OF this case. l would sooner attempt
to find this excuse in utter idiocy
than in the modern customary plea of
insanity. But neither is ofthe slight
est aid to solve this curious domestic
problem. The fathers ate sour grapes
and the clildrcn's teeth were set on
edge. Tho Chanccllor's son dishon-
oicd his father, and then perlshcd by
the murderous hand of his own son.
And there are thousands of families.
in this day ofours, where the charm
OF parental authority and iilial re-
spect has been worn away, in the
spirit of license and liberty which.
has supplanted the fitting relation Of
parent and child. Parents nay not
be murdered by their children, but
they lose their reverence and then
their love, and after that they have
no more power over them for good.
Ii their children bring down their
huirs with rro to the grave.
is only y slow death they die, and
their children arc no less their MUIR
dercrs than it they were shot with
four bullets by a fiendish son. Pa
rents, many of them, have ceased to
command their households after
them. Children at a very early age
cease to honor their parents. Bows
are young men, girls arc young ladies,
before they are into their teens. And
when a boy sets up to judge for him
self as to his hours and habits, inspite
of his fathers wishes, and n girl
to know more than her
mother about her company and her
dress, the rebellion has broken out,
and unless it is put down, the ruin of
peace, and very likely of
happiness andhope, follows naturally.
as "tho old man." Q r"the gov
know that there is a screw
Ioose, and the bowls taken n fonst
step toward the bad. And the girl
Yho pouts when reproved by her
mother, and jerks of her bonnet in a
pct, when restrained from going
has already mutinied against
law of heaven, and entered the
road that leads to a gulf from which
there is 10 return.
1t was the sin of Ham that he ex-
posed the nakedncss of his father and
Shem and Japhct were blessed for
covering it. Cursed of God and man
the son thst dIshonors his father, |
.hough drunk as Noah. No sin, no
into which a parent sinks, can
weaken the obligation of a child to
DC true, faithful and kind. And
.hesc are the lessons that force them
selves on my heart, as I think of the
most revolving crime that, so far as
Know, was ever committed since the
child was born into the world.