The Morristown gazette. [volume] (Morristown, Tenn.) 1867-1920, 1873-03-05
Five steps to the Gallows.

der. was tried, found guilty and con-
demned to be hanged. A few days
before his execution. upon the walls
of his prison, he drew the figure of
a man hanging on gallows. with
FIVE steps leading up to it.
On the first step he wrote: DISC
bedience to parents. Solomon says:
The eye that mocketh at his father
and despiseth to obey his mother,
the ravens of the valleys shall pick
it out, and the young eagles shall
eat it''-that is, he shall perish by a
violent death, he shall come to a
miserable, wretched end.
On the second step he wrote -
Sabbath breaking God. in his COM
mand, said: Remember the Sab
bath day to keep it holy" Visit
your prisons and jails. and you will
find that nine -tenths of its inmates
have begun their downward course
by breaking this command.
On the third step he wrote =
Gambling and drunkenness. The
late DR.. Mott. for more than fifty
years president of Union College.
having been close observer of hu-
man events, truly says: ''The fin
ished gambler has no heart. He
would play at his brothers funeral;
he would gamble upon his mothers
coffin"
Several years ago. boy was hung
for killing his little brother. When
on the gallows, the sheriff said !: eff
you have anything to say, speak now.
for you have only FIVE minutes to
live The boy, bursting into tears,
said: Il have to die. / had only
one little brother; he had beautiful
blue eyes and faxen hair, and l
loved him. But one day / got
drunk, for the first time in my life,
and coming home, 1 found him gath
ering Strawberries in the garden. I
became angry with him without a
cause. and I killed him at one blow
with a rake. / did not know any,
thing about it till the next morning,
when / awoke from sleep, and found
myself tied and guarded, and was
told that when my little brother was
found, his hair was clotted with his
blood and brains and he was dead.
Whisky had done this. It has ruin
ed me. | never was drunk but once.
/ have only one more word to say,
and then ] am going to my final
Judge. / say it to young people
Never, never, never touch anything
that can intoxicate y
On the fourth step he wrote -
Murder. Cod s command is; Thou
shall not KILL To prevent men
from unlawfully taking the life of
his fellow-man. God has annexed an
awful penalty: Whose sheddeth
mans blood, by man shall his blood.
be shed.,.'
On the fifth step.he wrote The
flttol platform. Its impossible for
us to form a correct idea of the
thoughts that must rush through the
mind of a man under such circum-
stances-the disgrace and ignominy
attached to his name; the pains and
agony of such death the want of
sympathy in the community around
him; the fearful forebodings of his
guilty soul before the bar of holy
God.
I was called in the early part of
my ministry to write the confession
of a murderer, and attend him on
the gallows. His name was Moses
Lyons. He, when drunk. murdered
his wife. Being maddened by liquor,
he seized her by the hair and jam
med her head on the hearth until
she was dead. Two men who were
passing by, hearing her shrieks,
rushed in and caught him in this
murderous, brutal act. visited him
in Jail, from time to time, with
view of leading hin to Christ. In
his confession he said: .'She is
dead, I must have done it, but
know nothing about its His mind
was so stupefed by rum that under
the evil spirit he committed this bru-
tai, this horrid deed. Abiding to
his parents, he says: The advice
Of NY dear parents to serve God 7
did not listen to. Oh, had done
so. should not have come to this
shameful end They have gone to
their grayes-peace be to them
Gould I visit the spot where they lie
buried, I would battle their graves
with my tears He had two daugh-
ters; when he spoke Of them he
wept aloud. After long pause he
said: Il hope the world will not
visit on them the iniquity of their
father. Parents, bring up your chill
dren in the nurture and admonition
Of the Lord; set good example
before them; do not to them as /
have done to mine. Children. obey
your parents in the Lord listen to