The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1901-05-03
EATH as the penalty Of dis
honor was the subject which
cropped up in the course OF

Fifth avenue the otner evening. De
faulting bank cashiers was the topic
that led 10 IL. Whether IL behooves q
man cleanly bred who has succumbed
to temptation and broken the seventh
commandment, or by any other breach
of the moral code has placed himself
without the pale Of society, TO execute
justice upon himself or 10 face the
music" set 10 the tune Of his trans
gression by the law Of the land, was
a question upon which opinion was
divided.
Three Of the company took the view
that 20 such a man-unless he had
fallen so low as 10 have lost physical
courage with his other virtues-there
could be no thought OF alternative
between the bullet and prison cell,
or flight. They contended that the
delinquent was bound to immediate
himself upon the altar Of family pride,
Two of the others, however, were
not satisfied that suicide was calcu-
lated 10 eradicate In any degree the
stain on the family escutchcon. One
submitted that self-destruction was
the resource Of n coward. that il was
in no sense an attenuation Of his
fault and only made bad worse IN
asmuch as the act would Intensity
a hundredfold the anguish Of those
who held him dear
The way 10 look NJ il, | take II,
Is this" said he. Assume for the
sake of argument, that the culprit
Is your own son. He is in doubt as
to which course 10 take and comes 10
you to decide for him. Would you
hand a revolver To him and tell him
to 90 and blow his brains outt"
No one undertook to answer this
query. All of those taking part in
the conversation were elderly. All
were the fathers of sons.
mo. of course you wouldn't" went
on the questioner with conviction.
"As far rs / am concerned. / am quite
sure paternal love would transcend
every other sentiment. and | should
stand by my boy in his trouble. For,
in the last analysis, what does man
in such an extremity care for society?
Under the obligation to choose. he is
for his own flesh and blood first and
let's the world go hang. And in this
he but conforms to one of natures
elementary laws"
Il cannot conceive of n man with
any glmmer of decency left placing
his father in such position" OBJ
served one of the sticklers for honor,
coldly.
(which does not alter the fact" re-
torted the previous speaker. that
were the dilemma to present itself,
you would, or, the principle you de-
fend so uncompromisingly be as much
i'm duty bound to condemn him TO
death as to take your own life. had
you yourself perpetrated the crime"
THAT is very true" assented the
member Of the group who had taken
no side i'm the argument. And there
are men who place the pride of family
above every other consideration. and
stop at no sacrifice, however terrible,
for what they believe 10 be its honor.
i was witness of tragedy. illustrative
OF this, that | never recall without a
shudder. and the details Of which /
will relate as being peculiarly peril.
nent to the point under discussion.
II was boy then. student at
Stewart College now the Southwest
ern Presbyterian University. AT
Clarksville, Tennessee. In a fine old
mansion on the outskirts of the town
lived friend Of our family. n splcn-
did type of the Southern gentleman,
bearing one of the bestknown and
most distinguished names in the State.
OF course | cannot divulge his name.
We will call him Colonel Hamilton.
for the sake OF convenience He had
once been very wealthy. but the Civil
War had left him barely enough OF
his fortune TO enable him 10 keep up
appearances.
He was widower. His daughter.
n mere girl, was the mistress OF his
household. His only son was ,eiler
OF bank in 4 certain populous town
In Georgia. The Colonel was very
proud OF Jack-that was the sons
name-and fairly idolized him. He
had made every possible pecuniary
sacrifice, even TO mortgaging the old
home, in order that his boy should
start in life equipped with the educa-
tion and somewhat of the means OF
a gentleman, and he based his nigh
hopes on the young fellows intelli-
gence and ability. Jack vesembled
the Colonel in form and feature. which
is TO say that he was TALL. athletic.
and uncommonly handsome. with
this he was high-spirited and extreme
ly sensitive.
During the college terms l prac-
tically made the Coloncl's house my
home. ! was regarded IS one OF the
family and came and went as /
pleased, without ceremony.
"One afteruoon-it was Saturday
and / intended to stay over Sunday
j made my way through the grounds,
climbed over the yeranda rail 90 save
myself the trouble OF going around ia
the entrance. walked through the
dravi-g room window, and opened the
door OF the Colouel's study without
going through the usually quite on.
necessary forinality OF knocking. !
bad brought a book for him aud lad
gone straight to the study to shy il
on his table IL he were not there. Coz
i wanted to get rid OF Il before going
20 me stable, where an interesting