The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1878-02-10

An aged minister of the Gospel-the only
survivor of the ministers of the city of
New York in the commencement Of this
century-rclatcs the particulars Of an inter.
view with Paine, the notorious reviler Of
:he Gospel, which may be instructive to
some of our readers. Paine, it will be re-
membcred, when q member OF the French
National Convention. fell under the sus.
picion of the Jacobins, and was committed
10 the Luxembourg. During the Reign OF
Terror, . member Of the Committee of
Safety passed through the prison every
evening, and made Il private mark on the
door Of the cell of such prisoners as had
been condemned through tho day. The
following morning the cxecutioners collect.
Gd their victims from the marked cells,
and, without further ceremony, dragged
them 70 their fate. Paine was actually
condemned to death, but, as it afterwards
appeared, the door of his cell stood MAR at
the time the officer Of the Committee made
his fatal round, so that the mark which
was TO designate him for execution was
made upon the inner side. The doors
were locked at night, and in the morning,
40 mark being visible to the executioner,
Paine was left undisturhcd. The keeper
of the prison, moved by compassion, com.
nunicated the fact Of his condemnation
s~a1 AAhaA 'AA'Hh ENAN - ~ oAAA NAAA1f Is
bookseller OF Paris. who generously resolved
10 run all the hazard Of concealing him in
his own house. Paine's enemies supposed
hat he was dead, and he remained safe in
the asylum of friendship till after the fall
of Robespierre, when he could make his
appearance without danger.
The generosity OF De Bonneville, the
wretch repaid by seduoing his Wiz and
carrying her. with her two child his
country. His reception in 4 u cd
States was very different from " ox-
pected. The popularity of his earlier
political writings WINS obliterated by the
adherence which his rude attacks on
Christianity had excited and he found
himself everywhere Stunned, except by
Tho degraded and proiiigate, with whom
his own habits naturally allied him. He
was still, indeed, possessed, Of n decent
competency, but it could not buy peace
of mind or respect; and atlength q misera-
bic wreck, deserted by the woman he had
taught the lesson of treachery, he was lin
gering out in profigacy the last remnant of
n shameful life in the city of New York.
TIL grossness OF his debauchery, the filth
ness of his habits, md the envenomed
hntefulness of his temper, rendered his
company intolerable to his warmest admi-
rers. One after another had cast him out of
their homes with ~loathing, and Mt last he
had found refuge in the house Of n poor
widow. who undertook the care of him,
moved partly by pity and partly by her own
necessities, which obliged her to seek sup.
port as a sick-nurse. Two years ago. this
lady, in helpless decrepitude and senility,
was paraded ut the annual festival in which
the infdels of New York celebrated their
masters memory. Had she been capable Of
recalling the part, what n testimony she
could have given hat assembly of the fruit
Of their principles!
Our venerable informant, then a youth
full and ardent minister of the Gospel, had
learned some particulars of the awful con-
dition Of the blasphemer, and could not rest
without making an effort to point him to the
Lamb of God who taketh away the sins of
the. world. Accompanied by two friends, he
waited upon the widow nj her house, and,
after explaining his objects and motives,
requested her to introduce them to the I'M
happy man. She readily consented, and dis
played deep anxiety, though she expressed
her hopelessness regarding the result of their
visit. and cautioned them against introduce
ing the subject Of religion abruptly, lest a
paroxysm of rage on the part of the dying
man should at once close the opportunity.
They found him lying in n stupid sleep
\ bloated md revolving mass of corrupt
&AA' NSAAlAa-NAbA ~ AAt ~
intemperance, and his countenance was
rendered hideous by the monstrous defor-
unity of his nose, produced by excuses.
When he collected himself sufficiently to
recognize them rs strangers, the Oldest of
the party introduced himself as an old polit-
ical disciple of Paine's in England, aud then
introduced his companions.
At first Paine, seemed pleased and fiat
tered by the attention of the visit, and
entered into conversation regarding his
W failing health and many sufferings.
The gentleman who thus far had acted us
spokesman of the party endeavored to lead
the conversation on to the great object of
their visit, and at length ventured q question
as to his preparation for an eternal state.
which the young minister followed up by an
expression of atfectionate concern about his
salvation. Their character and object at
once flashed upon his mind. The purple of
his countenance changed almost literally TO
black with rage, and his eye was lighted up
with intense hatred and, after n few mo.
ments of speechless passion, he gasped GU,
an order to leave him. In the consciousness
that it might be the very last time the Cos.
pei he had blasphemed might be spoken in
his hearing, they endeavored still, with
tenderness and trembling earnestncss. to
plead with the miserable manifold him OF
the over Astounding grace of God. and of
the blood Of Christ which cleGnseth from all
sin-until the terrible storm OF anger which
the attempt aroused rendered it dangerous
to the man himself to proceed. Leave
! leave me ! Get out Of the house Be
gone instantly Leave mel 1 say !" he
continued to v~ociferate, with mingled fury
and terror, till the sad party were out Of
hearing. The pitiful scene recalls John
Wilson's rough sketch of the death. bed of
Voltaire, the famous wit, whose brilliant
fancy hath waxed dim as that of any clown
who's malignant heart is qunking beneath
the Power it had SO long derided, with
terrors over which his hated Christian tri-
umphs-and whose intellect, once SO per.
spicacious that It could see but too well the
notes that are in the sun, the specks md
stains that are on the flowing robe Of Nature
herself-prone, in miserable contradiction
to its better being, to turn them as proofs
against the power and goodness of the Holy
One who inhabiteth eternity-is now palsy
stricken as hat of an idiot, and knows not
even the lame of its once proud possessor,
whom crowded theatres had risen up with
one rustic to honor, and then with d~eafening
acclamations raised o mortal to the skies:
There he is IL matters not now whether Oh
down or straw stretched, already a skeleton
and gnaahing-mayi it bein senselessness, for
what pangs are there ~!-gnashing