Claiborne guardian. [volume] (Homer, La.) 1877-188?, 1881-12-21

| so"s 80 suoS 10 stoi 10 tuO UOuy
that We are created only to struggle
and suffer for three score and ten
years; that whether our lives Be
gloriled By all the virtues or dam
ned by oil the vices, a common and
eternal sepulchre yawns for all.
The man of the world says he No
teaches because the utmost energy
Of bis great mind is devoted to the
destruction Of the christian faith,
in which, il successful, the christian
world would be without a religion
and without q God.
Dor Pagan Prince enthrones rea.
son, and seductivety discusses the
benehcence, the mercy aud the
grandeur, of its sway.
The God Of reason had worship.
ers in other times; the bowling mob
that gov erBed Paris 10 the revolution
Of '89 were the devotees Of this deity.
Their deeds distort and blacken the
pages Of history; the streets of Paris
run red with the blood of the limo.
cent. The world has properly de.
scribed the reign OF this God as the
reign Of terror. The accusation of
aristocrat, whether true or false,
consigned the accused to speedy
death, aud tue guilletine was it's on.
ly instrument of authority. Born
in blood, it strangled the monsters
that summoned it into existence.
The French revolution was the
outcropping of popular passions en-.
gendered by ages Of oppression,
both by church and state. But
who Is there that dares to defend
the crimes it committed when the
frenzy Of revenge governed the PEG.
pie and the god of reason was their
only deityi
Our Pagan Prince, although a
lawyer of great ability, cuts adrift
from philosophic teaching and pre-.
cedeut; for back to prehistoric ages
| do not call to mind any great PEG.
pie without religion; they recog
nized its necessity by its existence.
1t may be said that this proves
nothing. But it does prove that
the testimony Of the human
family is registered in its favor;
does prove that it is an elementary
of human nature, and that
established, the friend OF good order
must recognize its necessity. Every
careful reader of history is COMPEL.
ed to admit that the church presents
4 sorry picture; that since the foun.
datiOn of christianity it has commit.
ted many crimes; that it has more
frequently sided with the proposers
than with the oppressed; that large.
ly through what was denounced
heretical 10y the church has liberty
been established and intelligence
dffused. But the church is not
necessarily the exposition of the re.
ligion; nor can the christian faith
be justly held responsible for its
wrong doings.
Noltaire fought tor liberty when
It was PROSTATE beneath the iron
heel of bigotry, aud is justly immor.
talized for the greatness Of his
achievement.
Ingersoll lives in an age when the
church is under control, and in n
every watch tower of which
e named by defenders of liberty.
Assuming for argument that all |
ne says he true, what good could
,ome from the overthrow of a harm.
ess faith that softens the rugged.
ness OF lite to unfold thousands of
weary souls; that smoOths to the
believer the pathway that divides
lime from eternity; that enables the
mother with trusting heart to sur.
render the lambs of her flock to the
fold Of the God she worships; that
governs many q Maynard spirit to
and makes good citizeus
IF thousands who, without it's min.
would be pests to society,"
Let rs suppose there was no real
Christ; that mankind, environed BY
Pagan theories, with only the rich
and the powerful crowned with
mmortelles, had learned enough to
break the chains that bound them
and defy principle; that no real
presence had proclaimed that all
men we're equal before their creator;
hat Paganism, with it's slavery in
Rome aud its harlotry 10 the most
,hivalrio States of Greece; that
Pagan civilization was still perpet.
rated, where would liberty, which
10 lsuds 20 much, have found an
hiding plscei Does he not realize
hat the philosophy Of the period,
u the real presence Of Christ H.
'ither condition, procIaiming the
quality of men with their creator,