Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1874-11-12
THE PASTOR OF VEIL BY.
a TUE STORY OF clacuxsTANTiAL Ev.
irTNcE,

S&E CS6s
The most striking case of circum-
stantial evidence, III which the testi
mony against the accused was altogeth
er fabricated by the accuser, is one
taken from the Danish records, ano
which, from its impressiveness, ha,
been made the subject Of romance b,
both Danish and German writers. i
is to one of these that we are indebted
for the following details, but we shall,
as far as possible. eliminate the romant'
ic elements, and present the facts only
to the reader. The unhappy fate Of
the clergyman, Soren Ovist, is familiar
to his &C untrymen, though many gener
ations have passed away since the un
toward and deplorable events which
are about to be related
Soren was the pastor Of the little
village Of Vcilby, situated few miles
from Grenaee in the Jutland peninsula.
He was a man OF excellent neral char
setter, generous, hospitable, and dill
gent in the performances of his sacred
duties bu, he was man Of constitu
tonallv violent temper, which he lacked
the shiiity to restrain. and was conse-
quen.}y snlj~cs at tiues to fierce eut :
breaks Of wrath, which were sconrge
to his household when they occarrcd,
aud humiliation to himself Like
most Danish clergyman Of that day, he
was ,iller Of the soil, NJ we'll as a
preacher Of the Word; and from the
produce of his tithes, and the cultiva
ton Of his farm, realized a comfortable
competence. He vas widowe- Nth
two children a daughter who kept
house FOR him, and son holding an
Officer S commission in the army. At
lngyorstrup village not far from.
Vellby, drelt cattle farmer, one Nor.
ton Bruins. who, by means anything but
honest aud honorable, had acquired
considerable property, and who was i'll
i'll reputc As reckless self seeker, and
oppressor Of the poor. This man Nor
ten thoHght fit to pay court to the pas
tors daughter, but his suit was rejected
by both parent and child; and either
the refusal, or the manner Of ii, 80 irri
tated the sutton that be swore secretly
to be reveuged on both.
Some months later, when the short
lived suit had been forgotten, the pas
tor, being in want Of farm servant,
engaged Neils Bruins, II poor brather OF
the rich Morton the discarded lover
Neils soon showed himself to be all ut,
terly worthless fellow, lazy, i,npudeEt
and overbearing; and the result was {
constant recurrence of auarels and mu
tual recrimiua.ipns between him aud
his master. Soren on more than one
| occasion gave the fellow ,hrashing
which did net at all tend to improve
| the relations between them. These lie
lations, however, we're destined to come
to speedy close. The pastor had sci
Niels to dig piece Of ground in the
garden, but on coming ont he fount
him not digging, but leisurely resting
on his spade ard cracking nuts which
he had plucked, his work being lef
undons. The pastor seeded him an
grily the man retorted that it was no
business Of his to dig in the garden a,
| which Soren struck him twice in TIL,
face, snd the fellow, throwing dowr
the spade, retaliated with volley o
abuse. 1hereupon the old man lost 81
sell. control, and seizing tile spade h,
dealt the fellow several blows with it
Niels fell to the earth like one dead
but when his master in great alarm
raised him up he broke away, leapee
through the hedge, and made off int
the neighboring wood. From tina
time he was seen no more, and all in
quiries after him proved vain. Tn
above was the pastors account of tn,
tscts.
| Ere long strange rnmors began t.
circulate in the neighborhood. and, as
matter, Of course, they reached the pas
tor S ears. Morten Bruins was know
10 have said that she would make tn
parson produce his brother even it h
had to dig him out of the earth" Sorel
was intensely panied at the calumn,
implied, and instituted At his own ex
pt nse quiet search after the mssin,
mana search which failed altogether
Even before that failure was known
Morten Bruins, in tnltillment Of hi
threat, applied to the district nagis
trate, taking with him as witnesses ON
Larsen, cottager, and laborers wild
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