“Whose cap is speaking now?”
“Israel Kinsman’s, sir. Thou knaws me, squire.”
“To be sure I do. What does tha want to say? And when did tha get home from America?”
“A matter of a year ago. I hev left the army and gone back to my loom. Now I want to ask thee, if thou are against men when they are oppressed fighting for their rights and their freedom?”
“Not I! Men, even under divine guidance, hev taken that sharp road many times. The God who made iron knew men would make swords of it—just as He also knew they would make plowshares. Making war is sometimes the only way to make peace. If the cause is a just one the Lord calls himself the God of battles. He knows, and we know, that
“Peace is no peace, if it lets the ill grow stronger,
Only cheating destiny a very little longer;
War with its agonies, its horrors, and its crimes,
Is cheaper if discounted, and taken up betimes.
Foolish, indeed, are many other teachers;