Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1876-03-30

THE death by violence of such CHAR
acter in our midst as the notorious Pat.
Quinlan is \ lit subject indeed where
with to point a moral. He was rep
resentative of the dangerous class of
society," man of violence and blood
from his youth up-and the communI-
ty is well rid of him.
And vet there is another side to the
story of his life. He had the misfor-
tune to be left an orphan at an early
sge-an orphan with patrimony-a
Wayward boy with no proper restraint
exercised over him. Had Pat. Quinlan,
desperate that he was, had the benefit
of a mothers love and care and the dis
cipline of wise fathers guiding hand
while he was growing up, it Is quite
probable that his life would have had a
different ending.
Who has not heard the story of the
two brothers who were separated early
in life, the one to be adopted by an ex-
cellent foster father and mother, and
the other to be thrown in among unto
ward and demoraliZing associations;
and of how, at last, the former came to
be the judge before whom was tried
his unknown and lost brother, arraf en-
ed for agreat crime against society.
Mr.. Golf in his lecture on "circm-
stances" shows how easy it is for two
brothers to thus meet as judge and
criminal, and what mere creatures of
chance the most of us are in this world.
An orphan by of such wild, wayward
pre-disposition as Pat. Quinlan, OF all
others needed saving influences around
him. He was left the necessary amount
of money to ruin him. Had he. been
left Door he would have been put to a
trade, or ON a farm, and perhaps fallen
into different hands. As it was, he be-
came a spendthrift early in life. and
having acquired the habits and vices of
a spendthrift had no notion of settling
down to a different course of life. He
and his unfortunate brother (now un-
der the ban of the law travelled the
same downward course in life, and the
names of both are synonymes for out
lawry in this community.
When the establishment of the Chill
dren's Home was under advisement in
our midst severrl years ago, the late
Gov. Stanton made strong appeal on
its behalf to the self-intereSt of our peO-
ple, by showing them that it was bet
ter to take the little waits who were
left dependent on society and pay for
giving them good start in life, rather
than let them grow up to become foes
of society like Pat. Quinlin. 1t costs
far more in the end, he said, to let
them thus grow up. They became not
only idle, vicious and expensive, of
themselves, to society, but likewise
ramifying sources of idleness and vice
in others. Hence it was infinitely bet
ter policy to gather up these waits and
provide them with temporary homes,
until thev could be adopted into moral
and respectable families, rather than
let them become street gamins, the
nursery from whence is recruited a
large per cent. of the criminals who in
fest the cities and towns ofthe country.
There is no more salutary disposition
to make of boy left an orphan than to
put him to work in life, whether he
has money or not. Work, as Carlyle
saws, is to society what salt is to the
sea; it saves it from utter corruption.
Not only is it true that
sour highest enjoyment
Lies in employment"
but, too. our highest safety as individ-
uals and as members of society lies in
virtuous occupation. Hence the most
eminent writers on social science have
long been persuaded that it is the first
duty of society TO throw around
orphans such influences as will lead
them into habits OF industry and not
leave them to drift aimlessly into q
current of idleness and crime.-( Wheel
ing hoteltigencer 22d inst.