“The more sinful the man, the more sacred his life!”

“Well, I’m blowed to thunder, Hannah, if that aint the rummest thing as ever I heard said! the more sinful a man, the more sacred his life!  What will you tell me next!”

“Why, this:  that if it is a great crime to kill a good man, it is the greatest of all crimes to kill a bad one!”

To this startling theory Reuben could not even attempt a reply.  He could only stare at her in blank astonishment.  His mental caliber could not be compared with Hannah’s in capacity.

“Have patience, dear Reuben, and I will make it all clear to you!  The more sinful the man, the more sacred his life should be considered, because in that lies the only chance of his repentance, redemption, and salvation.  And is a greater crime to kill a bad man than to kill a good one, because if you kill a good man, you kill his body only; but if you kill a bad man, you kill both his body and his soul!  Can’t you understand that now, dear Reuben?”

Reuben rubbed his forehead, and answered sullenly, like one about to be convinced against his will: 

“Oh, I know what you mean, well enough, for that matter.”

“Then you must know, Reuben, why it is that the wicked are suffered to live so long on this earth!  People often wonder at the mysterious ways of Providence, when they see a good man prematurely cut off and a wicked man left alive!  Why, it isn’t mysterious at all to me!  The good man was ready to go, and the Lord took him; the bad man was left to his chance of repentance.  Reuben, the Lord, who is the most of all offended by sin, spares the sinner a long time to afford him opportunity for repentance!  If he wanted to punish the sinner with death in this world, he could strike the sinner dead!  But he doesn’t do it, and shall we dare to?  No! we must bow in humble submission to his awful words—­’ Vengeance is mine!’”

“Hannah, you may be right; I dare say you are; yes, I’ll speak plain—­I know you are! but it’s hard to put up with such!  I feel baffled and disappointed, and ready to cry!  A man feels ashamed to set down quiet under such mortification!”

“Then I’ll give you a cure for that!  It is the remembrance of the Divine Man and the dignified patience with which he bore the insults of the rabble crowd upon his day of trial!  You know what those insults were, and how he bore them!  Bow down before his majestic meekness, and pay him the homage of obedience to his command of returning good for evil!”

“You’re right, Hannah!” said Gray, with a great struggle, in which he conquered his own spirit.  “You’re altogether right, my girl!  So you needn’t tell me the name of the wrong-doer!  And, indeed, you’d better not; for the temptation to punish him might be too great for my strength, as soon as I am out of your sight and in his!”

“Why, Reuben, my lad, I could not tell you if I were inclined to do so.  I am sworn to secrecy!”