The rector heard him patiently,
offering no comment, and permitting no disputation. But, when Julius was
finished, he answered with a certain stern warmth, "Say what you will,
squire, you and I are of two ways of thinking. You are in the wrong, and
you will be hard set to prove yourself in the right; and that is as
true as gospel."
"I am, at least, a gentleman, rector; and I know how to treat
gentlewomen."
"Gentle-man! Gentle-sinner, let me say! Will Satan care whether you be a
peasant, or a star-and-garter gentleman? Tut, tut! in my office I know
nothing about gentlemen. There are plenty of gentlemen with Beelzebub;
and they will ring all eternity for a drop of water, and never find a
servant to answer them."
"Sir, though you are a clergyman, you have no right to speak to me in
such a manner."
"Because I am a clergyman, I have the right. If I see a man sleeping
while the Devil rocks his cradle, have I not the right to say to him,
'Wake up, you are in danger'? Let me tell you, squire, you have
committed more than one sin. Go home, and confess them to God and man.
Above all, turn down a leaf in your Bible where a fool once asked, 'Who
is my neighbor?' Keep it turned down, until you have answered the
question better than you have been doing it lately."
"None of my neighbors can say wrong of me. I have always done my duty
to them. I have paid every one what I owe"--
"Not enough, squire; not enough.
Pages:
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235