The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1886-06-22
SKEPTICISM'S ACCUSATION.

London died in this city recently, and
that until his latest breath he refused
the consolation offered by the Chris
tain religion.
He protested to be "a materialist,
but in what particular manner, ire
spective of his death, his belief mani
tested itself is not generally known.
Suffice it to say, he died, died just as
an animal would die, and with merely
the purely animal sympathy from his
intimates, which consisted in the min
istration to the physical alone, and
which are the ordinary offerings Of
humanity. After his death friend
who knew and loved him, because he
possessed generous spirit and had
qualities of head and heart which
made him companionable, pronounced
eulogy upon him. In the eulogy,
speaking of the efforts of the Christian
women to ease and make comfortable
the dead man last moments, the friend
said: "His dying pillow was smooth
ed bv the kind hand of Christian wo-
men, and although he could not share
their hopes and expectations of bliss
full hereafter. yet his eyes were often
dimmed with grateful tears for their
kindly minisirations and am sure
that / but utter his sentiments when
say, "God bless these noble Chris
tian women"
If Free London "never called on
God or expressed belief in Him" as
was asserted, why did this intimate
friend (who probably knew him bet
ter than any one else) say in his eulo-
gy that he "believed he uttered his
sentiments" when he said "God bless
the Christian women" If it was a
sentiment of his that there was God,
and He had power to bless, nationally,
Free London was not materialist In
the true meaning of the word and
must have had faith. However, it is
not the object of this article to dis
cuss this question, but rather to
reach, by a process of evolution
which is best comprehended by fol-
lowing, a publication called "The
IRON Clad Age" "a name, by the way,
which implies strength, but which in
.argumentative is essentially weak
published in Indianapolis, Ind, by
one j. M. Monroe. Prefacing this,
the reader will probably remember an
editorial which was published in the
BAzoo, bearing upon the death of
London, in which occurred the fol-
lowing:
stWhile the fortitude of Free Lon
don, in calmly and even defantly
facing the last great enemy, is adj
mired by all, yet it is to be dePre-
Gated as sowing in the minds of many
the seeds of infdelity and ungodli-
ness, which can never prove profitable
to those accepting such a doctrine,
nor add to the welfare of the COM
munity and the country at large;
"God In the constitution" was voiced
in clarion tones by those whose mem
Dries are to-day revered and emulated
by the youths and maidens of our
land. A nation without God will
surely drift on to the reefs of anarch.
ism, communism and utter ruin. This
is not the gush of a serio-religious
sentimentalist, but is the living,
burning words of history and will be
voiced adown the ages as long as God
holds temple and freedom a shrine. "
The notice of Free Londons death,
the eulogy and the editorial in their
entirety, were copied by the Age and
the following editorial comment pub
Ished in its pages:
One of the citidels that was form
erly the main reliance of the church
and that it maintained with the most
formidable array of falsehoods and
Welded with the loudest groans and
the least grace, was that the unbeliev'
er could die only in the most fright
full frame of mind, raving in view Of
hell, bemoaning his unbelief and call
ing on god for mercy, or disappearing
and flaming at the mouth like
chained maniac. The frightfu
death bed of the infdeP has been the
,rh;ah MONS lie uDnn piou