The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1898-04-21

| Three minutes after, the /" Father of
the Chapel" called "Time /" every
man was at his case, deeply absorbed in
his work. 81
Promptly at his usual hour of s
o'clock Old 10 appeared. cane in one
hand and lunch basket in the other
and attired in his customary working
day garments, but otherwise very differ
ent from the hearty, hilarious old fellow,
who brought kindliness in with him,
| like fresh breeze through astreet door.
Now had the ready jest left his lip, and
the CHEEKY light his eye. 1t seemed as
if his very body was so shrunken that
his clothes tapped about him. He had
encountered bit of bad news that he
could not roll off his mind through the
waste-weir of an exclamation.
After bestowing his lunch and his
street clothes in their usual place, he
wandered vacantly around the room for
awhile, striving in vain to interest HIM
self as usual in the condition of the
type on the standing galleys, the Cpl !"
made by clumsy "subs" and hidden
stealthily away, the arrangement of the
advertisements, and the elimination of
those that were "dead" from the
FORMS"
| At length he found his way over to
| Bronson's case, and began opening up
his heart to him in tone so low as to
not disturb anyone else:
Dave, this is just awful l do be-
lieve that it is the worst thing that has
happened since Christ was crucifed. 1t
takes all the light out of my life. AS
Macbeth says:
Had but died an hour before this chance,
had liz ed a blessed time"
"Well, l have strong hopes that
when they see the resolute front the
North presents the Southern people will
feel inclined to listen to the conservatives
and reject the counsels of the Fire
Eaters. 1t may not be too late yet for
them to agree to the Crittenden Com
promise"
go, they. never will they never
will J" said the old foreman, vehemently.
+" The Fire-Eaters have all the women,
the preachers and the young men of the
South with them. They have talked to
the young men until they have got them
afre with the idea of winning military
glory by whipping the North. There
are mighty fey, young men in the South
but what believe they are superior in
strength and courage to the young men
in the Northp and they are anxious to
show their young women that they are,
and the young women are even more
anxious to have this fact shown to them.
1t is easy to understand why the young
men and women want war; but | can't
understand what, in Gods name, the
preachers want fighting for"
40, religious partnership has sharp
ened the sword and nerved the arm that
welded it in nearly every war that the
world has seen" said Bronson, "and
suppose this one will be no exception.
The Methodist Church South has hated
the rest of the Methodist Church, as
only Methodists can hate, ever since the
schism in 1914, and the Hardshell
Baptist Church, to which nine-tenths of
the people of the South belong, hates
about everybody that wears white
shirt, and can read without spelling the
words. There's no trouble in account
ing for the religious luminosity. You
know the Hardshells don't believe in
educating their preachers-or their
people either; they believe in men being |
called upon to preach the gospel and
| never yet heard one of them announce |
that he had received such a call, with
out astonishing everybody that the Lord
was SO poor a judge of men. He must |
have unusual confidence in the saving
power of His word to select such ex-
Founders of it. 1t would require a
greater miracle than the Gift of Tongues
to qualify such men for religious
/ have met great many OF
them, and can assure you that the Harp
Of Thousand Strings sketch is no
but sorrowfully near photo
graph of the average preacher for the
poor whites of the South. You can
easily ses how such a man as that be-
comes ready tool of the Fire-Eater.'
Yes; yes.;.I can see it all too plain
ly. My hopes are all gone. Even if
we hang tossther up here long enough
to whip these fellows, what good would
it do? What'll our victory be worth?
Look at Ireland and Poland, and the
that the French conquered.
1t has been war there ever since. The
people won't stay conquered. Well be
worn out long before their country is
overrun, and if we fight at all we'll
generate hatred that will make trouble
for centuries. / believe that this is
only the beginning of our country's go
ing the way Mexico and the South
American countries have. Now we are
TO have two Governments fighting each
other soon ite will be 80 or 40 SQUAD
bling, wranglipg little 7x9 pigmy Gov
ernments as there are in Germany.
And | have Been so proud of our coun-
Try /; | have so firmly believed that it
was favored of GOD for the home of the