"
"Thank God!" said Birch, with fervor, "I have never yet taken the life
of a fellow creature."
"As to killing a man in lawful battle, that is no more than doing one's
duty. If the cause is wrong, the sin of such a deed, you know, falls on
the nation, and a man receives his punishment here with the rest of the
people; but murdering in cold blood stands next to desertion as a crime
in the eye of God."
"I never was a soldier, therefore never could desert," said the peddler,
resting his face on his hand in a melancholy attitude.
"Why, desertion consists of more than quitting your colors, though that
is certainly the worst kind; a man may desert his country in the hour
of need."
Birch buried his face in both his hands, and his whole frame shook; the
sergeant regarded him closely, but good feelings soon got the better of
his antipathies, and he continued more mildly,--
"But still that is a sin which I think may be forgiven, if sincerely
repented of; and it matters but little when or how a man dies, so that
he dies like a Christian and a man. I recommend you to say your prayers,
and then to get some rest, in order that you may do both. There is no
hope of your being pardoned; for Colonel Singleton has sent down the
most positive orders to take your life whenever we met you.
Pages:
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324