The Cass County Republican. [volume] (Dowagiac, Mich.) 18??-1880, 1863-08-27

not to pay bis hands money. l once
heard him say to poor man who pre-
sumed to expostulate with him upon
this tyranny:
''It's no use, friend, no use talking.
Poor folks waste money, and cannot
have my money wasted. If you want
anything, 60 to my store and get it,
and if it is not there, tell my son to
order it from Boston. My father was
a poor man once, but he knew how to
take care of his money. and SO got
rich, and you might do the same if you
were prudent
ssHe thought it was necessary fer
hin to take personal charge of the e.
nancial interests of these extravagant
working men who were poor because
they were not saving of their money.
Poor slaves! Little money they had to
save veindeed. Sothose who were too poor
to get away from bis clutches worked
on in the mill or the shipyard for a stipu
lated price of SO many dollars pei
month, and took their pay out of the
store at an advance price Of forty OF
fifty per cent, in the deacon's favor. Il
the poor fellows had families, they soor
got in debt, and then their employees
displays his religious proelivities by
admonising his debtors of the sin ol
defrauding the righteous Of their just
dues, and coming to the Lords table
with unwashed hands-msaning the
sin of debt-and such cant. You will
understand the system of oppression
better after you ride round the ship
yard and the suburbs Of the village
and see the dsns of wretchedness b.
has planted. by their fruits ye shal
know them.' Yet Deacon CIary thinks
himself a pious man, and expects to 60
to a heaven where there will be no
wicked debtors"
l had never had such a picture OF
tyranny and oppression presented SC
vividly to my mind before, except in
in dark stories of romance, where
priestly sanctity wrought deeds of hor
ror under the cloak of religion, and
was reused to passionate indignation
l shook my fist menacingly in Nathan
face, as though he had been the Phari
see of whom he spoke.
"Don't you believe in everlasting
torment, Nathan Morse? Where God'l
bolts of vengeance, that this man ear
live in pious luxury all bis days, wiring
ing the life-blood from hundreds of hu
man hearts, and selling it for gold "a
pamper his pride ?"
Nathan took my pugnaoious fist and
smiled, not at my furious passion, bu
at his own deeper thoughts, smile o
deep. mysterious meaning; but be re
piled iu light strain, as if to calm my
emotion:
"Do not be worried, my dear Tom
with regard to my religious tenets.
believe / am quite orthodox in my
creed, and l believe with you. that eve.
ry man shall be judged according to
his works. Yet high-handed hypocri
sy and oppression sometimes has its
reward even in this world, and Deacon
Clary may die humbled man."
would have refnted the idea tha,
any punishment in this world were suf
ficient to atone for the misery that he
had imposed upon the hundreds of poor
wretcbes in his power; but Nathan
spoke with such a tone of prophetic
meaning that rather waited for him
to explain this seeming insinuation
he did not explain it, however, and
utterly disrsgarded strong hint OF
my part to do so but went on to speal
of other matters, which belong prop
erly to the next chapter.
CONTINUED in our nert.)