The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1878-02-03
vsrs instead or moving forward iii it# march

we're, instead OF moving IutWAhu III ieS nitescH
Of progress.
AZ HE same time that this general develops
merit Id admitted, there is evidently, our bis
fnriat, discovers d national character given
h. hell by the various divisions OF the
h,,tunt, race. Mark Twain noticed that In all
The pictures OF the apostles he had seen In
F,,,fope not one was the picture OF a Jew;
In France they were Frenchmen, In Italy
Itallans In Spain, Castilians. Hell Is SINH
larry natlonalized. The Mahometan bells,
for instance there we're seven Of them, are
entirely Oriental In their makeup. Norway
packed her Taftarus with Ice and snow; and
Dantes inferno has strong Italian character
istics that no reader can help noticing.
| The earliest known hell was that Of the
Egyptisns. 1t was weak affair, although
boasting Of fire; the damned spent but q few
years In 1t. and then returned to earth to be-
| gin life anew. The Etruscan hell was even
weaker. 1t boosted of no fire, the punish
ment of the wicked being by ham nierlng
and beating. None Of the ancient nations who
had hell believed in eternal dainnation; the
wicked passed only limited period Of suffer
| ing, aud returned TO earth at The end of this
probationary term.
| MANY races were entirely unsupplied with
| hell. The Chinese and Japanese are to-day In
| this unfortunate condition, although their
religion IL largely supplied with devils. Ie
this fact Is doubtless attributable their ineotn-
| plete and half developed civilization. the
| civilization Of Il nation being in exact proper
ton to the terrors and suffering OF its hell.
The wild tribes Of Africa, for Instance, are
wholly without future place Of punishment
hence their barbarism. The Greek hell, on
the other hand. is grand III its conception. To
The Greeks Ia due the honor Of having first sug-
gested the idea of eternal dannatior. Before
their day hell had only been temporary
ratreat; they made 1t the perpetual dwelling
place Of the wicked and added Thousand
new horrors to IL. And then-here comes In
the Greek character they spoiled the whole
thing by adjoining IIades with a lot OF roman.
tic stories Of Orpheus and Eurytliee, Pluto
and Ploserpine. etc, that completely de.
sttuyed the moral effect Of Its horrors.
The Romans adopted the Greek hell witt
the Greek civilization. With the decline q
the Roman, empire hell also declined. Wheth
er the fall of Rome Ia due to this unbeef, ol
whether this unbelief was the fruit OF tbs
physical degradation Of mankind Mt that pc
Rod, 1T s hard to say. Certain is 1t that o.
the time Of the first emperots the Romans
became very Beechers on this subject. ant
declared with Polybus: Hell ia useless
TO sages, but necessary to the Blind and hrtta
populace." A general decentralization fol
lowed, ending III the extinction OF the Roman
empire.
II is scarcely necessary to speak of the bel
, of modern times. illuminated by the geniu
Of Milton and Dante. II neei only be sail
during all this period ii has steadily Improved
The fact that to-day a party has arisen up
posed to hell, would show that our civilza
, ton il In danger and tottering. The impossi
. bility of doing without hell must be apparen
, at once. 1t is an idea older than history, a
old as the human race itself; and when MI
Heechrr puts himself forward and attempt
to defnoish place ofJuture punishment. b
attempts task, dangerous 1t Is true, bn
happily also hopeless.