Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1895-03-01

come out here just for friendly talk,
know, so just spit out what you have
and go.
The officers face changed color under
this rough greet ng. For Mark Hillary
had been particularly hard upon several
of Atlee's weak points, and most bitter
enmity had sprung up between them
But he quickly reg ine1 the usual mallG-
nant look which always marked his face
when near Hillary, and, IN the manner
which his soul thought would be most
aggravating to the olgh iconoclast. re-
piled:
"I'm sorry to come ou'cheer on such
an errand being as me and you used 10
be such cronies but an 'umble officer O
The law must do his dooty. if it is un-
pleasant. I've got here in my pocket a
writ for you. Mark Hillary, which bids
you come before the magistrate and
p cad guilty or not guilty to charge of
blasphemy, so l guess you'd better
lounge along with me"
"The church and the state keep up this
nagging pretty we'll, was Hillary's re-
ioinder. wonder which one Of my re-
marks touched the parsons flank this
time" And he burst into loud laugh
III at made the tile constable turn pale,
as, perhaps, Hillary meant it to do.
Throwing on his loose blouse, which
had been hanging upon the limb of tree,
Mark, with brief Come along" started
for the village. This was rot 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 his
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 abe to understand them all.
Arriving at the Squire's house Hillary
entered with no more ceremony than he
would have entered the poorest cabin In
the village, and with hearty salutation
to the Magistrate said:
The church must love me well to sen1
for me in the midst of woodchoppipg
Seems as if I am about the most popul r
man in S gnauck, at least you send for
me oftener thln sny other. I'm ready
fire away The meetings. open" With
O glance at the min ster, who squirmed in
his chair, and half rose intending to re-
buke such lightness, but whom the Squire
motioned to remain seated, Mark sat
down.
The charge was rea I, in which it was
s ated with all due form, that Mark
Hillary, of Sagnauck, Commonwealth of
Mass sachusett', had on several occ sions
offended the sacred laws Of Sagnauck, his
Majesty the King, broken the peace of
Sagnauck, and done lasting injury to
Gods church by denying ths power of
God denouncing His holy word, and in
dulging in his vicious propensity for
sne ering, and by ridiculing the holy men
of old whose lives were given us for pat
terms of life.
Mark Hillary, began the Squire, afIsr
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 1 did say was that
wh.re we are commanded to make no
i'm ge of anything in heaven or on
earth or under the earth, that it Is not
binding, because, ifbinding, you, Squire,
must take down those pictures from your
wal S. and I also said that where we ere
told to observe the Sabbath day is not
binding, or, ii it is, We are all breaking
Gods law, for no one Observes that day.
We all keep Sunday, not Saturday"
"Blasphemyl" CALCULATED tie Rev.
Henry Granville.
Again, YOU are charged with speaking
lightly ofth 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 he governed by
those books known as the Old and New
Testaments.
Certainly, Squire. Was David such a
saintly man that we should follow his
example? Didn't he steal mans farm
and kill another to get h s wife, when
he alre dy had a hundred or more!
How many wives does Rev. Henry Gran.
Vile think man ought TO have? And, as
to that old Look, l confess l care Little
for the first part of it, for it is only
history Of tue Jews, and I'm no jew.
Some parts of the New Testament are all
right and some are mo-. Paul runs dowr
matrimony, and while running it down
SAYS he thinks he has the spirit Of Cod
If he thought so, 1 don't. And, as fol
sending that slave back to the man who
claimed 10 own him l know you al
believe in one man owning another, but J
don't; and Idon't believe that what Pau
s lid then will hold good hundred years
from now. 1t may to-day. but that doei
not make it right"
you hear him" again interrupted the
minister. His own words bear witness
against him"
"Agaiu," continued the Squire, you
are charged with denying that the in
spired words of our Lori, the New Testa-
ment are to be the rule of our lives.
No, never for 1 read them every day.
What l did say was, that you worshiped
the book ins cad OF God. And l deny
that God wrote it. Christ founded His
Church and left His apostles to run it.
(Groans from the mirister.) They wrote
TO different churches according to the
churches needs. Some of them are
good for rs. some are not"
Lastly" aid the squire. Il have here
what purports to be poem. in your hand.
Is it yours?
"Yes: see no reason for denying it,
uuoth Hillary, after looking at the manu-
script
In measured tones the minister then
read the following:
GOD IS DEAD.
The God OF ages, God of might and power,
rho mystic. dread AN. who through the past
Ruled all the universe, lay still in death.
The glorious symphony of earth and sky
Had ceased, and death-like silence reigned ir
heaven.
IL st1te the Monarch lay before the Throne;
His pail q shining cloud OF light, so bright,
So ter ibls that none dare turn his eyes
Upon the bier and none dare lift the pail
And gaze on that great Ole whom men had
thought
Could never die
The deepest silence. Then