"
"And pain, Monsieur?" said Brother Jacques softly.
"Ah well, and pain," abstractedly. "But as to Heaven and hell, bah!
Let some one prove to me that there exists a hereafter other than
silence; I am not unreasonable. People say that I am an infidel, an
atheist. I am simply a pagan, even more of a pagan than the Greeks,
for they worshiped marble. Above all things I am a logician; and logic
can not feed upon suppositions; it must have facts. Why should I be a
Catholic, to exterminate all the Huguenots; a Huguenot, to annihilate
all the Catholics? No, no! Let all live; let each man worship what he
will and how. There is but one end, and this end focuses on death,
unfeeling sod, and worms. Shall I die to-morrow? I enjoyed yesterday.
And had I died yesterday, I should now be beyond the worry of
to-morrow. I wish no man's death, because he believes not as I
believe. I wish his death only when he has wronged me . . . or I have
wronged him. I do not say to you, 'Monsieur, be a heretic'; I say
merely, permit me to be one if I choose. And what is a soul?" He blew
upon the gold knob of his stick, and watched the moisture evaporate.
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