“I can.  In the Acts of the Apostles, xv. 29, the use of blood and strangled meat is forbidden.  Besides, our Lord fasted forty days from the use of all the good gifts of God in the shape of food.  The Israelites fasted from flesh in the desert, and were terribly punished for asking for it; over seventy thousand of them having died as a punishment for their carnal desires.”

“Paul, I fear the Lord has deserted thee,” said this ignorant hypocrite, when he saw himself refuted by this young boy.  “Don’t we read from the mouth of truth itself, that ’what entereth into the mouth defileth not’?”

“I think I heard the teetotal lecturer on the road there say that a glass of brandy defiled a man; and I am sure a quart or two of it would cause a man to sin, and thus defile him.  And as the apple in the garden defiled Eve, not by its nature, but by reason of the prohibition of God, so the meat on Friday does not defile of itself, but by reason of the prohibition of the church.”

“You should not obey the church, Paul, in all these things.  It is slavery the most vile, so it is.”

“Is it slavery in one to obey his parents in what is good and useful?”

“No.”

“Well, then, the church is my mother; and when she prohibits an indifferent thing, I, as a good child, am bound to obey her, particularly when I have the promise of Christ that she can never err—­that ‘the gates of hell can never prevail against her.’  We have an instance in this very county,” said Paul, now warming into the argument, “of the effects of a prohibitory law.  A few years ago it was no harm to fish for pickerel in the lakes and brooks of this county; but some of the people petitioned the legislature, and got a law passed forbidding the fishing for such fish for twenty years; and now, whoever is detected in violating the law is fined or imprisoned.  So it was no sin to eat meat on Friday; but the church, for wise reasons, and to encourage mortification, has forbidden its use; and so now, after the prohibition, just as after the passage of the law in regard to fishing, whoever knowingly violates the law disobeys the church; and he who disobeys the church, or his parents, offends God, and will be punished by imprisonment, death, or eternal condemnation.”

“That boy will never do any good, and is a dangerous viper in a family,” said the parson, abruptly rising, and taking his hat.

“Well done, my young paddy,” said uncle Jacob, as he saw the dominie retire; “you have beaten the minister holler.  Ha! ha! ha!  I am really glad you silenced his gab, for he is ’tarnally blabbing about his religion; though I think he hain’t much of it himself, except counterfeit stuff, like a bad bill,—­ha! ha!—­that he wants to pass.”

“I hope he is not angry,” said Paul, timidly.

“Pshaw!  And who cares, Paul?  Let him cool, if he is mad, the darned fool,” said uncle Jacob.  “I am glad to have the house shet of him.”