The Child at Home | Page 5

locked up in the dismal dungeon of a prison. The
day of trial came. Pale and trembling; he was brought before the judge. He was clearly
proved guilty, and sentenced to be hung. Again he was carried back to his prison, there to
remain till the hour for his execution should arrive. News was sent to his already
broken-hearted parents, that their son had been condemned as a pirate, and was soon to
be hung. The tidings was almost too much for them to endure. In an agony of feeling
which cannot be described, they wept together. They thought of the hours of their child's
infancy, when they watched over him in sickness, and soothed him to sleep. They thought
how happy they felt when they saw the innocent smile play upon his childish cheek. They
thought of the joy they then anticipated in his opening years, and of the comfort they
hoped he would be to them in their declining days. And now to think of him, a hardened
criminal, in the murderer's cell!-- Oh, it was too much, too much for them to bear. It
seemed as though their hearts would burst. Little did they think, when, with so much
affection they caressed their infant child, that he would be the curse of their life,
embittering all their days, and bringing down their gray hairs with sorrow to the grave.
Little did they think, that his first trifling acts of disobedience would lead on to such a
career of misery and of crime, But the son was sentenced to die, and the penalty of the
law could not be avoided. His own remorse and his parents' tears could be of no avail.
Agonizing as it would be to their feelings, they felt that they must go and see their son
before he should die.
One morning, a gray-headed man, and an aged and infirm woman, were seen walking
along, with faltering footsteps, through the street which led to the prison. It was the
heart-broken father and mother of this unnatural child. When they came in sight of the
gloomy granite walls and iron-grated windows of this dreary abode, they could hardly
proceed, so overwhelming were the feelings which pressed upon their minds. When
arrived at the door of the prison, the aged father, supporting upon his arm the weeping
and almost fainting mother, told the jailer who they were, and requested permission to see
their son. Even the jailer, accustomed as he was to scenes of suffering, could not witness
this exhibition of parental grief without being moved to tears. He led the parents through
the stone galleries of the prison, till they came to the iron door of the cell in which their
son was confined. As he turned the key with all his strength, the heavy bolt flew back,
and he opened the door of the cell. Oh, what a sight for a father and a mother to gaze
upon! There was just enough light in this gloomy abode to show them their son, sitting in
the corner on the stone floor, pale and emaciated, and loaded with chains. The moment
the father beheld the pallid features of his long-absent son, he raised his hands in the
agony of his feelings, and fell fainting at his feet. The mother burst into loud
exclamations of grief, as she clasped her son, guilty and wretched as he was, to her
maternal bosom. Oh, who can describe this scene! Who can conceive the anguish which

wrung the hearts of these afflicted parents! And it was their own boy, whom they had
loved and cherished, who had brought all this wo upon them. I cannot describe to you the
scene which ensued. Even the very jailer could not bear it, and he wept aloud. At last he
was compelled to tear the parents away; and it was agonizing indeed to leave their son in
such a situation, soon to be led to an ignominious death. They would gladly have staid
and died with their guilty child. But it was necessary that they should depart; and, the
jailer having closed the door and turned the massive bolt, they left the unhappy criminal
in his cell. Oh, what would he have given, again to be innocent and free! The parents
returned to their home, to weep by day and by night, and to have the image of their guilty
son disturbing every moment of peace, and preventing the possibility of joy. The day of
execution soon arrived, and their son was led to the gallows, and launched into eternity.
And, crimsoned with guilt, he went to the bar of God, there to answer for all the crimes of
which he had been guilty, and for all the woes he had caused.
You see,