Page:The Book of Nullification.djvu/24

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been validated.

20

the name of Thomas, surnamed Jefferson, from the lips of Robert, and how that Robert had called himself "the mirror" of him whom, in days past, he had grievously reviled and persecuted.

21. But it was now made manifest that Robert "the Disunionist," was but a painted sepulchre, and that he sought to beguile the people with the name of Thomas, and to persuade them that he was "a disciple" of the true faith.

22. Now, it came to pass, that when Henry, the chief priest of Mercury, saw all that had been done, and how that the followers of James the deluded, and of Robert the Nullifier, tarried at the feast, and were waxing warm from the wine which was set before them,

23. He thought, in his heart, that the hour was surely come wherein without much peril, he could stand forth as a great champion, and claim to himself the name of a bold and valiant warrior.

24. So Henry arose and cried aloud against the statute called the Tariff, and against the counsellors who had ordained it, and against all the rulers of the land.

25. And he opened his mouth and said, "O men of the South! of a surety 'your degradation is abject;' and the words which ye have this day heard from the mouth of James, and of Robert, are the words of truth.

26. "Your enemies, the Yankees, have encompassed you round about, and will destroy you; wherefore, ye must straightway arise, and go forth to meet them.

27. 'And if you will hearken unto my voice, verily I say unto you, unfurl at once the banner of the State."

28. And when Henry, the high priest had thus spoken, all his followers shouted aloud, for they rejoiced greatly that he was now ready to buckle on his armour, and that no man could again gainsay his valor.

29. Now when all the rulers, and the elders, and the counsellors at the feast, had declared the whole counsel which they had devised, it came to pass that their disciples and followers, began to give loose to the feelings within them

30. And they made a great clamor; for they were inflamed with the wine which had been set before them, and with the words which they had heard.

31. And some uttered curses against the men of the North, called Yankees—and some called them leeches, and threatened them with poison; and many spake of chains, and of shackles, and of ruin, and of desolation.

32. And one cried aloud, "Disunion, our only preservation;" and another spake of "a Republic south of the Potomac," and a third called for "action, action, action."

33. And they all shouted aloud—and they continued eating and drinking until the eleventh hour of the night; and as many as had strength to do so, departed to their own homes

34. But when the people heard of all that had come to pass, they were greatly wroth against James the Deluded, and Robert the Nullifier, and the other rulers and counsellors—and they looked upon them as stumbling blocks in the path of those to whom they should have been as burning lamps.

35. And they treasured all these things in their remembrance for a day of reckoning, when they should all give an account of the deeds that were done at the Feast of Nullification.