Bloomington herald. [volume] (Bloomington, I. T. [Iowa]) 1840-1849, 1843-03-17
From the Family Companion.
HOMESPUN YARN.
The IS Ea2,ersencs'' CT the Blacksmith Of the
eM0uHfnii.. FO5S.


- .Nounfas,,-F'ass.
CHAPTER 1.
AT the entrance to one of those gorges
or gaps in the great Appalachian chain of
mountains. in their passage across the nor
lhern portion Of Georgia, blacksmith
had erected his forge, in the early settle
ment of that country by the American
race, and drove a thrifty trade in The way
Of facing axes and pointing pIoughs for
'he settlers. and shoeng horses for way
faring people in their transit through the
country TO examine gold mines and land.
AS he was no ordinary parsonage in
the affairs Of his nei ghborhood, and will
make conspicuous figure in this mar
ra,lve, some account of his peeuliariies
will not be undressing. Having acted
through life on a homely maxim Of his
own-"pay up as you 90 up" he had
acquired some money and was out of debt
and consequently ENJOYED the glorious
privilege of being independent" III de-
gree iha, is unknown to many who occupy
larger portion Of this worlds attention
than himself. lie was burly, well look
ing man Of ,hirty>live. just Young enough
to feel that all his faculties. mental and
pL1sical had .raaeioI--al -rcn'crt dc
ve'opment, and jus, old enough TO have
amassed sullicien, experience of men and
| things to make the past serve as finger
board to his future journey through life.
Will, shrewd. bu, open bold and honest
look, there was eeeful expression in
Tie corners of his eyes, tina, spoke of fun.
The :. laughing devil in his eye' was MOI,
malicious spirit however. His physical
conformation was that which combined
great strength and agility. and if he had
been fa,ed TO have been contemporary
of his great prototype, Vulcan. there can
be no doub, bot the I.emnian blacksmith
would have allotted to him from, forge
in his establishment, to act as sort Of
pattern card, and TO divert the public gaze
from his own game leg TO the fair proper
lions Of his foreman.
Now, although Ned Torgeron for such
was The name he had inherited from some
Gallo ancestor, was good na,u,ed man,
yet the possession of great muscular
strength and courage, and the admiration
which Il successful exercise Of his power
never failed to command, had somew hal
spoiled him. Without meaning to I'M ure
any mortal, he had managed. nevertheless.
10 try his proves on several of his neigh
bors. and from the success which had al
ways crowned his honest efforts in that
way, had unconsciously acquired the name
Of a BULLY.
With very few early advantages Of ele.
mentary education, he had nevertheless. at
different periods collected mass of heie
rogenious information, which he was very
fond Of displaying on all occasions. He
was sort Of political an,iquary. and conld
tell the opinion of Mr.. Jefferson or Mr..
Madison on Any subject. and was referred
to on all disputed points Of the theory and
history Of the government, that arose a.
mong the candidates for the legislature and
country politicians. This he studied on
account Of the consequence it invested
him with Blu. why he had treasured no
an old and we'll ,hnmbed copy Of Paine's
age of Reason," and affected scep'icism
as 10 the veraei,y of the story Of Jonah
and the whale, and Balaam and his ass,
would be hard accounting for, unless it
proceeded from the desire Of a character
for singuIari,y and erndilion. When van.
iiy once gets the advantage of mans
reason. there is no telling the absurdiiies
il will lead him into. lie WAS fond OF
speaking Of Volney. and being found with
a copy Of Taylor's Diegesis' in his
hand, although few Of his neighbors had
heard Of the author Of the " Ruins" Or
knew wha, Diegesis meant. s. s4sa s@'tie
This popularity. together with the per.
iinaci,y of the missionaries, Worcester
and Butler. which carried them 10 the pen.
i,en,iarv. may account for the great aver
sion Of Mr.. Edward Forgeron TO- all the
preachers Of the Gospel. HIS dislike TO,
them was so excessive. that he cOul0
scarcely speak Of The '.hypocrisical scoun.
drels,'' wi,hou. flying into a passion ano
using indecorous language. So sH va
But a circumstance occurred which gave
his zeal distinct and sectarian direction