United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Fiction
Having looked after the safety of his family, he had returned with the
best and sincerest intentions to minister to the wounded. If the good
he would do corresponded with these intentions he would have been
welcomed in most instances; but he possessed that unfortunate
temperament which is only one remove for the better from a cold
indifference to his sacred duties. He did not possess a particle of
that mysterious, yet in his calling priceless, gift termed magnetism
for the lack of a better definition. All respected him, few warmed
toward him or thought of opening to him their hearts. His mind was
literal, and within it the doctrines were like labelled and separate
packages, from which he took from time to time what he wanted as he
would supplies from a store-room. God was to him a Sovereign and a
Judge who would save a few of the human race in exact accordance with
the creed of the Church in which the good man had been trained. What
would happen to those without its pale was one of those solemn
mysteries with which he had naught to do. Conscientious in his idea of
duty to the last degree, he nevertheless might easily irritate and
repel many minds by a rigid presentation of the only formula of faith
which he deemed safe and adequate. It seemed his chief aim to have
every form and ceremony of his Church complied with, and then his
responsibility ceased. He and Mr. Baron had taken solid comfort in each
other, both agreeing on every point of doctrine and politics. Both men
honestly felt that if the world could be brought to accept their view
of life and duty little would be left to be desired. When summoned to
perform the marriage ceremony Dr. Williams no more comprehended the
desperate opposition of Miss Lou to the will of her guardian, the
shrinking, instinctive protest of her woman's nature, than he did the
hostility of so many in the world to the tenets of his faith. His
inability to understand the feelings, the mental attitude of others who
did not unquestioningly accept his views and approve the action of the
"powers that be" was perhaps the chief obstacle to his usefulness. He
was not in the least degree intolerant or vindictive toward those who
opposed him; his feeling rather was, "This is your opportunity. I
gladly afford it and there my responsibility ceases"--a comfortable
sort of belief to many, but one that would not satisfy a warm, earnest
nature like Paul's, who said, "To the weak I became as weak, that I
might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by
all means save some." Paul would have found some way to reach the ear
and heart of nearly every wounded man in the extemporized hospital, but
for the reasons suggested the visits of poor Dr. Williams soon began to
be very generally dreaded. Old Uncle Lusthah had far better success
with those who would listen to him.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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