St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1878-08-23
ST. JOHNsBURY VT. FRIDAY, AUG. 1873.

since he was informed by his physicians
that he cannot possibly live, and must
die shortly. He sent for you to-day be-
cause he was told that if anyone could
do him good you might. Possibly he
may think that you know of some rene
dy which his physicians are ignorant of.
He is truly to be pitied. His cries, when
he is left alone are heart-rending. 'Oh,
Lord help mep he will exclaim, during
his paroxysms of distress. God help me
Jesus Christ help me 7 repeating the
same expressions without the least va
ration, in a tone of voice that would
alarm the house. Sometimes he will say
'Ob, God what have l done to suffer
so much = Then, shortly after, But
there is no God 7 And again little af-
ter, 'Yet, if there should be, what will be-
come of me hereafterP Thus he will con-
tinue for some time, when suddenly he
will scream as if in terror and agony, and
call out for me by name. On one Of these
occasions, which are very frequent,
went to him and inquired what he want
ed. Stay with me- he replied, 'fOr
Gods sake, for l can not bear to be left
alone l then observed that | could not
always be with him, as l had much to
| W III U1c lOuSc. L utii, HO,
send even child to stay with me, for
it is hell to be left alone.' g never saw"
she concluded, "a more unhappy
more forsaken man. 1t seems he cannot
reconcile himself to die"
Such was the conversation of the wo-
man who had received us, and who prob
him during his illness. She was Pro-
/ hot
we should afford him some relief in his
state of abandonment, bordering on
complete despair. Having remained thus
for some time in the parlor, we at length
heard noise in the adjoining room
us to believe that Mr.. Paine, who was
sick in that room, had awoke. We ac-
cordingly proposed to proceed thither,
which was assented to by the woman,
and she opened the door for us. On en-
tering we found him just getting out of
his slumber. A more wretched being in
appearance | never beheld. He was ly-
ing in bed sufficiently decent of itself,
but at present besmeared with filth. His
look was that of man greatly tortured
in mind, his eyes haggard, his cOunte
nance forbidding, and his whole appear
| duCc blldl vi ODt WflOSt Utlb6I udNS Ildu
been but one continued scene of de-
bauch.
His whole nourishment at this time,
as we are informed, was nothing more
than milk-punch, in which he INDUCED
to the full extent of his weak state. He
had partaken undoubtedly but very re-
Gently of it, as the sides and corners of
his mouth exhibited very unequivocal
| Of ,,fh ,ab
had also flowed in the track, and left its
mark on the pillow. His face, to a GER
tain extent, had also been besmeared
with it. The head of his bed was against
the side of his room, through which the
door opened. F. Kohlmann having en-
tered first, took seat on the side, near
the foot of his bed. took my seat on
the same side, near the head. Thus, in
the posture in which Paine lay, his eyes
could easily bear on F. Kohlmann, but
not on me easily, without turning his
head.
AS soon as we had seated ourselves
F. Kohlmann, in a very mild tone o
t voice, informed him that we were Cath.
9 Ole priests, and were come, on his invi
e tatiOn, to see him. Paine made no reply
s After short pause, F. Kohlmann pro
= ceeded thus, addressing himself to Pain,
!, in the French language, thinking that al
: Paine had been in France he was prob
S ably acquainted with the French Ian
e guage (Which, however, was not tn,
J, fact,) and might understand better wha
II he said, as he had at that time create
n facility and could express himself bette
e in it than in the English. .......
II ''MOns. Paine, j'ai lu vOtre livre init
# tute IL Age de la RaisOn,' on vous ave
attaque Pecriture sainte avec une vic
d lence, sans bOrnes, ct d'autres de vO
: ecrits publies en- France; ct je suis per
is sude que" Paine here interrupted hin
h abruptly, and in sharp tone of voice
d ordering him to speak English thus
b 'Speak English, man, speak English.
d F. KOhlmann, without showing the leas
= embarrassment, resumed his discourse
and expressed himself nearly as follows
,f after his interruption, in English MI
e Paine; have read your book entities
k the Age of Reason as well as others G
', your writings against the Christian re
e ligiOn, and am at loss to imagine hoy
II man of your good sense could hav
n employed his talents in attempting t
l. undermine what, to say nothing of it
Divine establishment. the wisdom G
e ages has deemed most conductive to tn
l. happiness of man. The Christian reli
ii GiOn, sir" .Ha -E
Ie "That's enough, sir, that's enough,
= said Paine, again interruptiDg him g
p see what you would be about wish
): hear no more from you, sir. My mind
d made up on that subject. look upo
Ie the whole of the Christian scheme to b
ic tissue of absurdities, and Jesus Chris
< to be nothing more than a cunning knav
er and an imposter."
n, F. Kohlmann here attempted to spea
d again, when Paine, with a lowerin
J. countenance, ordered him instantly I
r be silent, and trouble him no more. 9
d have told you already that 1 wish to hei
IS nothing more from your
s "The Bible, sir" said F. Kohlmanl
r still attempting to speak, ''is a sacre
t, and divine book, which has stood th
e. test and criticism of abler pens tina
lie yours-pens which have made at leas
Iy some show of argument, and"
lie "YOur Bible," returned Paine, "cor
le tains nothing but fables; yes, fables, an
s. l have proved it to demonstration.
J. All this time looked on the monstt
10 with pity, mingled with indignation ;
as his blasphemies. felt degree of horrt
at thinking that in a very short time b
at would be cited to appear before the tr
m bunal of his God, whom he SO shockingl
D. blasphemed, with all his sins upon hin
Seeing that F. Kohlmann had complete
ut ly failed in making any impression III
is on him, and that Paine would listen
n nothing that came from him, nor woul
ic even suffer him to speak, finally col
oil aA fo ,hoE 7 1~.l,t H.