The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1893-10-25

Mark, with brief Come along" started
for the village. This was not the figure
the little man had been expecting to cut.
He had been proud Of his commission
and had thought with elation of appear
ing upon the street Of Sagnauck with lis
old enemy following in submissive cap.
tivity. His peace of mind was not in.
creased by the cutting witticisms which
Hillary fred at him continually, and
which were all the more CALLING because
the poor fellow felt his inferiority in not
being able to understand them all.
Arriving at the Squires house Hillary
entered with no more ceremony than he
would have entered the poorest cabin in
th9 village, and with hearty salutation
to the Magistrate said:
Ihe church must love me well to send
for me in the midst Of woodchopping
Seems as if am about the most popular
man in Ssgnauck, OF least you send fol
me oftener than any other. I'm ready
Gre away. The meetings. open" With
o glance at the minister, who squirmed in
bis chair, and half rose intending to re-
buke such lightness, but whom the Squire
motioned to remain seated, Mark sat
down.
The charge was read, In which 1t was
stated with all due form, that Mark
Hillary, of Sagnsuck, Commonwealth of
Massachusetts, had on several occasions
offended the sacred laws Of Sagnauck, his
Majesty the King, broken the peace of
Sagnauck, and done lasting injury to
Gods church by denying the power OF
God, denouncing His holy word, and in
dulging in his vicious propensity fo-
sneering, and by ridiculing the holy men
of old whose lives were given us for pat
terms of life.
Mark Hillary" began the Squire, afte,
the charge had been read, you are here
charged by the Rev. Henry Granville,
first, with having stated openly that the
ten commandments were not to be
obeyed. What have you to say to the
! charger"
Il never said exactly that" replied
Hillary. But what did say was that
where we ore commanded to make no
image Of anything in heaven or on
earth or under the earth, that it is not
binding, because, if ifbinding, you, Squire,
must take down those pictures from your
walls; and also said that where We are
told to observe the Sabbath day is not
binding, or, il it is, we are all breaking
Gods law, for no one observes that day.
We all keep Sunday, not Saturday"
-Blssphemy!" CALCULATED the Rev.
Henry Granville.
Again, YOU are charged with speaking
lightly of the Holy Bible, the sacred book
of G cd, and have not only ridiculed the
holy men therein mentioned, but have
denied that We are to be governed by
those books known as the Old and New
Testaments.
Certainly, Squire. Was David such q
sanity man that we should follow his
e1ample2 Didn't he steal q mans farm
snd kill another to get his wife, when
he already had o hundred or more?
How many wives does Rev. Henry Gran
vile think o man ought to have2 And, as
to that old book, I confess care little
for the first part of it, for it is only q
history of the Jews, and I'm no Jew.
Some parts of the New Testament are all
right and some are not. Paul runs down
mstrimony, and, while running it down,
SAYS he thinks he has the spirit Of God.
If he thought 30, don't. And, as for
sending that slave back to the man who
claimed to own bin I know you all
believe in one man owning another, but ]
don't; and I don't believe that what Paul
said then will hold good hundred years
from now. 1t may to-day, but that does
not make it right"
: You hear him" again interrupted the
ss:::s..ss:z. Ills own woros pear witness
against him."
Again" continued the Squire, you
are charged with denying that the in
spired words of our Lord, the New Testa-
ment, are to be the rule of our lives"
mo, never, for I read them every day.
What did say was, that you worshiped
the book instead of God. And I deny
that God wrote it. Christ founded His
Church and left His apostles to run it. "
(Groans from the minister.) They wrote
to different churches according to the
churches needs. Some Of them are
good for us. some are not"
Lastly" said the squire, I have here
what purports to be poem, in your hand.
Is it yours?"
Yes: see no reason for denying 1t, "
quoth Hillary, after looking at the manu-
script.
In measured tones the minister then
read the following:
GOD 1s DEAD,
The God OF ages, God Of might and power,
The mystic, dread AN. who tn, ough the past
Ruled all the universe, 10y still in death.
The glorious symphony of earth and sky
Had ceased, and death-like silence reigned II
heaven.
In state the Monarch lay before the Throne;
His pail shining cloud OF Light, so bright,
So ter ible that none dare turn his eyes
Upon the bier and none dare lift tho poll
And gaze on that great Oae. whom men hnd
thought
Could never die.
The deepest silence Then
Came slowly, lowly, sadly forth the deep
Majestic funeral march. The heavenly choir
And throbbed with low, sad dirges for Its King.
Softly It came, mysterious chanting, such
As men or angels never heard before.
he died. Through space confusion ruled
Our earth the long pent storm Of ages burst
It's barriers and swept across its face.
Stout trees were bent. The vecy mountains
Before tie stcrm. Loud peaIs Of thunder rolled
From pole to pole. The vivid lightning flashed,
The sea was In fury lasheo, and waves,
High as the heaven, broke upon the shore.
The dead. who in their graves had slept arose,
And in white garments, weird and wild. came
From every land and deepest oce-n depth,
And walked upon the earth. The souls OF those
Long dead, whose bodies were corrupt, blew
And there before the storm with shrieks and
moans-
Unearthly mists FROM heaven and hell-an6
cried:
%, God is dead = In plstntive minor notes.
me sad refrain which mingled with the chant
OF white-robed, wandering dead, who wslket
the earth
And cried that God, who was the king OF souls
Was now no more"
AL nature bowed before
The storm Of ages, and all nations bowed
Before the storm which rent the soul-th'
storm
Through all the cons feared and which now 1t
Had burst. through all eternity should roll
For God was dead. No power was there to sta!
The tempest, nor the wave OF dark despair.
Fen Satan in the lowest depths OF hell,