Bennington semi-weekly banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 1894-1902, 1895-03-08

BHRer FfH Co., bangor, we.
fah and neah to know hitl Go yer way
with yer people and make ready. I'll
stay back har with my kin and friends
and prepah. And bear in mind, Het Ma
goone, when we uns meet agin, thar'll
be blood, and won't ak God to have
mercy on the dead Now go, d-n YOU
The desperate swung into the saddle,
and then his followers sent up a gasp of
relief. Not at all ashamed of their
work, but with their feelings against
Father Peter someNhat allayed, Ma
goone and his gang, on foot and on
horseback, started into the hills.
Then the old clergyman assembled his
friends before the ruin and addressed
them He counseled patience and peace
He implOred thAn to avoid gatherings
and not to talk. even with those they
were sure of, on the subject now excit-
ing the land. This done, he called on all
to kneel and to join with him i'll pray
er, and all did so excepting the black
smith, who, with folded arms, watched
the blue smoke pillar rising from the
ruin.
Brother Bradley" said the old cler
gyman when he had concluded, twill
you LEAD us in prayer"
Strong in everything he did, the
blacksmith. during his years of grace,
had developed decided talent for pray
er. There were force and rude elo-
quence about the man very effective
with people Of impressionable natures.
Father Peters" he replied, II can't
pray. Hit don't seem jist the thing TO
me to pray to Jesus Christ when he
stands by and sees a lot Of cussed rebils
burn down the house we uns built TO-
him. He had the powah to strike 'em
dead like lightnin, but did he do hit?
Not much. Thar's heap of Goals and
ash whar the church was, and thar's
that id Het Magoone off safe with
his gang, whin l should a smashed in
his skull like the shell of bird egg and
then flung him into the fab"
Father Peters tried to reason with his
friend. He repeated all the wise and
trite things about the mysterious ways
of Providence, the power of prayer, the
necessity of keeping alive the faith, and
the certainty that truth would triumph;
but, while still loving and respecting the
noble old man, the blacksmith was in
no mood to be comforted by words In
effect he replied in this way, and ON
the men it was evident that his words
had stronger influence than the pray
ers and exhortations of Father Peters:
"I've got so that can spell out few
words in the good book, but my young
est boys got noah downright 'arnin, TO-
he's readin Biography. Still can think,
and do think right smart, and hairs
what I've been a-thinkin this blessed
day, and l say hit without meanin no
disrespect TO- Father Peters nor his kin,
TO- love 'em all, God bless 'em!
''But, after long months of waitin
and prayin, the wah, ez we uns tried to
pray off, hez come to the Cumberland
hills, and hit do look powahful like to
me ez eff she'd come TO- mighty long
visit. Wah means fightin and fab and
blood and death! Wah and religin
can't nevah gee. Yo' can't yoke 'em
One pulls moth, the other south. One
means trustin in God, which is all
mighty nice and comfortin in peace; the
other means trustin to yerse'f and yer
rifle and that's the only ching to do in
time of wah. I'll go home from har
and mold bullets in the forge while the
lead holds out, and I'll take the good
book TO waddin, to help kill the foes
of the Lor, d--n 'eml
go to yer homes, folks, and think
hit ovah. Tell yer wives and chillen,
yo' uns ez ken tote rifles, that yo'll be
'bleeged to leave 'em mighty soon, TO-
the CHI 'ice'll come to be shot down like
dogs in these hills or to git together and
fight our way to the old flag. The men
that fred the meeting house today
b'foah our eyes, tonight may burn our
cabins ovah our heads. If so be they
don't do hit, hitwon't be COZ they don't
want to, but COZ they're skeert. A man
with rifle will have noah powah to
keep 'em low than fifty thousand mil
lion meetin hoases full of folks pray
in.
$50 that's why 1 think religin's all
right in hits place, and hit may give a
powah of comfort to the wimmin when
we uns hez to light out, but ez fo' me
I'm in fo' wah, and feel that Ill be
'bleeged to give my religin rest till
we decide with our rifles whether lot
of id ribils or we Union men is
a-gwine to hev the free run of the hills
along the Cumberland. Thar, that's all
1 have to say, and hits right smart
noah than 1 tended to say when sot
out"
Father Peters saw that it would be
folly to attempt to change the black
smith or to try to hold to his own peace
full views the Union mountaineers that
heard him. M then, as his daughter
confessed in telling the story, he fully
appreciated the force of the blaoksmith's
reasoning about the war, though the
change in the mans religious views had
on him most discouraging effect.
Even the women and children present
on this occasion seemed to realize that