Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1884-04-30

In 1SUJ,-1 mere lies oclOIc INC u lCttoi
written to me by Mrs Mary Benjamin,
who at the age of eleven years was an
eyewitness to the death-bed agonies OF
Thomas Paine. She writes from Will
Transport, Pa. April 25, 1875: 81
was invited by distant connection =.
to go and see T. Paine on his death
bed The scene to me was appal-
ling, and | wished to leave at once. L
remember him as he lay, his head near
and close to the door we entered, his
glaring, rolling eyes; uttering lmpre-
cations, apparently in agony OF body
and mind, his screams could be heard
at a great distance. As shrank back
they said (there were many there) he
called on Jesus Christ for mercy, and
next blasphemed" This Independent
witness simply confirms the testimony
of other respectable persons; whose
veracity is only impeached by inhdels
who were not present, and who know
nothing of the facts, but who with
characteristic candor expect US to be-
lieve their testimony concerning events
which occurred years before they were
born.-the book took such leap that
since that time more than twenty times
as many Bibles have been made and
scattered through the world as ever
were made before since the creation of
man. Up to the year 1900, from four
to six million copies of the Scriptures,
in some thirty different languages,
comprised all that had been produced
since the world began. Eighty years
later, 1880, the statistics of eighty diff
ferent Bible societies which are now
in existence, with their uDnumbered
agencies and auxiliaries, report more
than I65, 100000 Bibles, Testaments,
and portions of Scripture, with 2O6
new translations, distributed by Bible
societies alone since 1904; to say
nothing of the unknown millions OF
Bibles and Testaments which have
been issued and circulated by private
publishers throughout the world. For
a book that has been exploded go many
times, this book still shows signs OF
considerable life.
I have heard of a man travelling
around the country exploding this
book, and showing up "the mistakes of
Noses" at about 5000 night. 1t is
easy work to abuse Moses at 5000 a
night, especially as Moses is dead and
cannot talk back 1t would be worth
something after hearing the infdel on
''the mistakes of Moses, " to hear Moses
on "the mistakes of the infidel.p When
Moses could talk back he was rather a
difficult man to deal with. Pharaoh
tried it, and met with poor success.
James and Jambres withstood Moses,
and it is found grave in the Red Sea.
Korah, Dathan and Abiram tried it,
and went down so deep that they have
lot vet got back. But now MosCs is
dead, and it is easy to abuse him. 1t
does not take a very brave beast to
kick dead lion. 1t would be interest
ing to hear military leader and legis-
lator, like "Moses the man of God"
who, after he was 80 years old, COM
manded for 40 years an army of 6OO,-
900 men, emancipating, organizing, and
giving laws to a nation which has
maintained it's existence for more than
thirty stormy centuries, give his can
did opinion concerning "the mistakes"
of "Colorel" of cavalry, whose mill
tary career is said to have included one
single engagement, in which che was
chased into hog-yard, and surrender
ed to boy of sixteen;" after which, as
soon as exchanged, he heroically resign
ed his commission in the face of The
enemy, subsequently turning his atten-
tion to managing swindling whisky
rings, discussing theology, defending
scoundrels, blaspheming God, and criti-
cising dead men who cannot answer
him.
But, after all, this book seems to
stand abuse, and thrive upon refuta-
ton, A few months ago some learned
men, after working for q number of
years ON the revision of the New Tes-
lament, finished their work. Having
inserted a few modern words instead
of others which bad become obsolete,
made some slight corrections of errors
in translation, and rectified from ancient
manuscripts some little errors that had
been made by copyists in transcribing
the New Testament, at last the book
was announced as ready to be issued
on q certain day. What was the re-
suit? Why, men offered five hundred
dollars to get copy of that book lit
tie in advance of its publication and
the morning it was published, the
streets of New York were blockaded
with express wagons backed up and
waiting for copies of that book which
had been refuted, exploded, and dead
and buried for so many years. Millions
of copies of that book were sold as fast
as they could be delivered. They tele-
graphed that book, from the first of
Matthew to the end of Romans, from
New York to Chicago, about lis, 900
words-the longest message ever wir-
ed-for the sake of getting it there
twenty-four hours sooner than steam
could carry it, to print in the Sunday
newspapers
A dead book, is it! They would
not pay for telegraphing the greatest
infdel speech ever delivered in this
country from here to Topbet. This old
book seems to show some signs of life
yet. 1t is like Aaron's rod that bud
ded and blossomed, and it is being scat
tered all over the world
This book outlives its foes If you
could gather all the books written
against it, you could build pyramid
higher than the loftiest spire. Now
and then man goes to work to refute
the Bible; and every time it is done it
has to be done over again the next day
or the next year. And then, after its
enemies have done their worst, some OF
its professed friends torture and twist
and mystify and misrepresent it. Sure
ly it is no fool of book if it lives