The Republican journal., 1869-03-18
The "Experience" Of the Blacksmith
Of the Mountal Pass.

CHAPTERI 1.
AT the entrance to one of those gorges
or gaps, in the great Appalachian chain Q
mountains, in their passage across the north
ern portion of Georgia, blacksmith ha'
erected his forge in the early settlement Q
that region by the AngloAmerican race
and drove thrifty trade in the way of fac
ing axes, and pointing ploughs, for the set
tiers; and shoeing horses for wayfarins
people, in their transit through the countr,
to examine gold mines and land.
AS he was no ordinary parsonage In the
affairs of his neighborhood, and will make
a conspicuous figure in this narrative, some
account of his peculiarities will not be un
interesting. Having acted through life Oh
a homely maxim of his own,-''pay up az
you 90 up,"-he had acquired some money
and was out of debt; and consequently Ell
joyed ''the glorious privilege OF being IN
dependent" in degree that is unknown t
many who occupy larger portion OF tho
worlds attention than hiinself. He was q
burly, well-looking man Of thirty-five, jus
young enough to feel that all his faculties
mental and physical, had reached their
greatest development; and just old enough
to have amassed sufficient experience OF
men and things, to make the past serve as a
| finger-post to his future journey through
life. With shrewd, but open, bold, and
honest look, there was a gleeful expression
in the corners of his eyes, that spoke OF
fun. The ''laughing devil in his eye" was
not malicious spirit, however. His phys
ical conformation was that which combined
great strength with agility; aud if he had
been fated to have been contemporary OF
his great prototype, Vulcan, there can be
no doubt but the Lemnian blacksmith would
have allotted to Linn a front forge In his es-
tablishment, to act as sort Of pattern-card,
to divert the public gaze from his own
game leg to the fair proportions OF his fore
man.
Now, although Ned Forgeron, for such
Gallo ancestor, was good-natured man,
yet the possession of great muscular strength
and courage, and the admiration which a
successful exercise of those powers never
fails to command, had somewhat spoiled
him. Without meaning to injure any NOR
tai, he had managed, nevertheless to try
his prowess on sundry of his nelghbors !;
and from the success which always crowned
his honest efforts in that way, hal uncon-
sciously acquired the character Of bully.
With very few advantages Of elemcn-
tary education, he had, nevertheless, at
different periods, collected a mass of heter-
ogeneous information, which he was very
fond Of displaying on occasions. He was
IA sort of political antiquary and could tell
the opinion of Mr.. Madison on any subject !;
and was referred to on all disputed points,
on the theory and history Of the govern
ment, that arose among the candidates for
the legislature, and county politicians.
This he studied on account of the conse-
queuce it invested him with. But why he
had treasured up an old and we'll thumbed
copy of Paine's Age Of Reason" and af-
fected skepticism as to the veracity Of the
story of Jonah and the whale, and BaIaam
and his ass, would be hard accounting for
unless it proceeded from desire of char
acter for singularity and erudition. When
vanity once gets the mastery of man J
reason there is no telling the absurdities
1t will lead him into. He was fond of
speaking of Volney, and of being found
with a copy of TayIor's ''Diegesis" in his
hand, although few of his neighbors had
heard of the author of the 'ruins," Or knew
what Diegesis meant.
This peculiarly, together with the peril
nacty of the missionaries, Worcester and
Butler, which carried them to tue peniten-
tiary, may account for the great aversion Of
Mr.. Edward Forgeron to all preachers of
the gospel.
His dislike for them was so excessive,
that he. could scarcely speak of the "hypo-
critical scoundrels,' as he called them, with
out flying into passion, and using indeco-
rous language. But circumstance occur
red, which gave his zeal a distinct and Sec
tartan direction. A Methodist preacher
over ln Tennessee, who was fond OF spicing
his discourse with anecdotes, made him the
principal character in long sermon. His
pecaliarites were dilated on, and his here
sizes dealt with in becoming severity. He
was ridiculed, and his literary ac lurements
disparaged by the preacher All this came
to the ears of Forgeron, with such additions
and embellishments as stories usually re-
celve in passing to third person. 1t would
be as useless to describe mountain storm,
as to picture the wrath of this mountaneer.
But If we cannot portray tho storm, the
consequences may be easily told. The
blacksmith swore in his wrath he would
whip every Methodist preacher that passed
the gap, III revenge for his insult.
Forgeron was a man Of his word, as the
bruised features of many of John Wesley
disciples could testify. His character soon
went abroad, md the good old matrons of
the surrounding counties on each side of
the mountain trembled at his name. In
short, the mountain pass, which was really
as romantic place as landscape painter
would seek for picture, and was just the
spot to remind a youth, fresh from his class
lc studies, of the place where Leonidas and
his three hundred Spartans fell, in attempt
ing to defend Greece against the army of
Aerxes-ln despite of the grandeur of beet
ling cliffs and the beauty of it's verdure,
was associated in the minds of many pious
persons, with the broad gate that leads to
destruction. And Ned Forgeron, the hand
some blacksmith, was invested with the at
tributes and hideous aspect of his Satan
ic Majesty, by many mountain girl who
would doubtless have fallen in Glove at first
sight" with him under any other name.