Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1866-08-09
A STRANGE CHARACTER.

1nlTlN SIN NciIS ago ltSC august
there died in one of the narrow and
glo0mlv cells of the Kennebec coun-
ty Jail, in Augusta, Me, q man whose
noble mien and strange history at
tracted attention and commanded the
fees of nearly every man, woman
and child who visited that village,
and had time to behold so singular
an object and listen TO his tragical
narration. This was the venerable
Henry McCausland. In that stone
cell, SOLITARY and alone he spent
life of Mirty-sir years-between the
ages of SO and 72-awaiting. and all
the time earnestly demanding the
sentence which, though he was found
unqualifie,lly '.guilty'' in court, was
never pronounced upon him. His
person was one of the noblest speci-
mems of the genus honolulu six
feet in height, well proportional in
body and limbs, straight, erect, with
q kindly countenance and flowing
beard of snowy whiteness, which for
all that time had felt only the friendly
salutations of a huge horse name
comb. Like the beard of the great
Hebrew priest, it went down to the
skirts of his garment" 1t was not
common or fashionable then, as it is
now for his modern imitators to ex-
hibit such barbarian, because I'M
barbered. visages; ana consequently
his Jewish physiognomy was ter
ror to juveniles and a wonder to all.
The circumstances of his long life
Imprisonment, without sentence or
exception of legal punishment, were
singular, and will bear narrati on
even at the present day.
Henry McCausland was a mill
wright in Gardiner He was a pa
triot of the Revolution, and served
his country well in the war of indie
pendence. During violent religious
excitement, produced by certain New
Lights, he became convert; and his
impressions were so strong that he
thought he held direct spiritual com
munication with the Almighty, who
required him, in order to insure his
final favor, to make burnt Offering
and a saryice. On every other SUBJ
ject but that of religion he was per-
fectly rational; but on this he was
perfectly deluded; in fact, amonoma-
MAC. For n time he resisted the
heavenly calling; but the more he
resisted, the clearer were his Wis
ions and the thicker came the texts
of Scripture which urged him to
''obey God rather than man." But
what should be his burnt offering? and
where should he find the victim for
sacrifice? These were revealed to
him in this wise: There was an Eng
lish Episcopal church in Gardiner,
built by its legalized patron, William
Gardner, for whose name the town
was called. This church, in the
phraseolOgy of the New Lights, was
a child of the Mother of Harlots, the
church of Rome. 1t was a proud,
scornful enemy of true religion and
its revivals. The edifice where
Satan had his sanctuary must needs
be put out of the way; that, therefore,
was doomed for burnt Offering
Accordingly, on the night of 22d of
August, 1893, he filed n child's shoe
with live Goals and repaired to the
church, which he soon sue ceeded
in burning to the ground.
The same patron of the church had
no wife,-but married woman who
kept his house, and who, as McCause-
land believed, had given birth to
three illegitimate children by the
church patron, thereby committing
the objectionable SIM against the
three persons of the blessed Trinity,
the Father, the Son, and the Holy
Ghost. Evidently she was the prop
er victim for the sacrifice. 1t hap
pened upon certain night in Oeto-
Der, this woman, Mrs. Warren, was
called to watch with sick sister up
the Cobbossee stream. Thither he
repaired at midnight, by means Of
his canoe, entered the house and
sick room without ceremony, and
proceeded to the discharge of his
pious duty. Mrs. Warner was par
tally reclining by the side of her sick
sister, supporting her aching head
upon her own bosom. McCausland
had taken no weapon or instrument
of death with him, knowing. that if
the Lord had called him to make the
sacrifice, he would provide him with
the means; and so, casting his eyes
h