William Muil describes a time he visited one of those old colonial houses up in New England.  The house still retained the furniture and the atmosphere of the 18th Century.  The guide was the last descendent of the original owner of the house.  As Muil was walking through the house, he noticed a beautiful old rifle over the fireplace, and reached up to examine it.  The old lady pulled his arm down and said, “Please don’t touch it, it’s loaded and it may go off.”  Then she explained, “My great, great grandfather loaded that gun and placed it there against the day when he might strike a blow for the freedom of the colonies.”  William Muil asked, “Do you mean he died before the revolution?”  “No,” she said, “he lived to a ripe old age and died in 1817, but he was never able to generate much e…