Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1888-10-20

it makes the inf9my OF Judas lscar;ot whlte!
Net this man by his own hand hung up LOT
the execration Of all the ages, Judas lscarioe.
All the good men and women of the Biole
loft TO God the decision Of their earthly
terminus, and they could have said with
JOB. who had right 10 commit suic de u
nny man ever had what with his DESTROYED
property, his body all aflame witli insuirera-
bic carbuncleS, and everything gone from
his home except the chief curse Of it, q PISS
tferouS wife, and four .arru!ous people pet
ing him with comfurtleSS talk while he Sis
on n heap of ashes scratching his scabs With Il
pieca of broken pottery, yot crying out III
Triumph "All the days of my appointed
time will l wait till my change come
Notwithstanding tho Bible is against TINS
evil, and the aversion which it creates by the
loathsome and CHASTITY spectacle OF those
who have hurled themselves out OF lie, anu
notwithstanding Christianity is against IL;
and tho arguments and the useful liVes aao
the illuStrious deaths OF its disciples, IL Is
fact alarm,ncly patent that suicide is on the
increase. 70
What is the caused charge upon lnti.
dcli.y and Agnosticism this whole thing Ii
there be no hereafter. OF if that hereafter be
b'iSsrul without reference to how we I'VE
and how we die, why not move BACK tiie
folding doors between this world ana tne neXI'
And when our existence here becomes trouo-
Put this down among your most solemn re-
Elections, aud consider it after you 60 to your
homes; there has never been case oil suicide
where the operator was not either deinented.
and therefore irresponsible, or an lnhoel.
challenge all the ages, and challenge the
universe. There never has been q case OF
self-destruction while in, full appreciation OF
his Immortality and of the fact that that I'M
mortality would be glorious or wretched ac-
cordiuc as he accepted Jesus Christ or reject
ed Him.
You say it is a business trouble, or you say
it is electrical currents, or 1t is this, or 1t
is that, or it is the other thing. Why not
go clear back, my friend, and acknowledge
that in every casa it is the abdlca-
ton of reason CT the teaching OF inf
deity which practically says: ".f YOU don't
like this life get out of it, and You will
land either in annihlation, where there are
no notes to pay, no perS .cutionS to suffer, no
govt to torment, or You Will lana where
there will BE- everything glorious and moth
ing to pay for it." intidelity always mas
been apologize for self-immolation. After
Tom PaineS Age of Reason" was published
and widely read there was marked increase
of self-Slaughter.
a man in London heard Mr. Owen deliver
his intidel lecture on Socialism, and went
home, sat down, and wrote these words:
Jesus Christ is one of the weakest characters
in history, and the Bible is the greatest pos
sible deception and then shot himself
David Hume wrote these words: 1T would
be no crime for me to divert the Nile or the
Danube from its natural bed Where then
can be the crime in my diverting n Few drops
of blood from their ordinary channels" Ana
having written the essay he loaned 1t to
friend, tie friend read it, wrote letter OF
thanks and admiration, and shot hlmSe'I.
ADpendiX to the same book.
Rousseau, No.taire Gi5bon, Monta!gne,
under certain circumstances were apologize
for self-immolation. Intideiity puts up no
bar to Peep e'S rushing out from this world
into the next. They teach US it does not
make any difference how You live here or 70
out OF this world, YOU will land either IN
an oblivouS nowhere or glorious SOME
where And inidelty holds the upper end OF
the rope for the suicide, and aims the pistol
with which n man blows his brains out,
and mikes TIE Strychnine for the last
swallow. If infdeity could carry the day
and persuade the majority of people in this
country that it does not make any difference
how YOU 60 out of the world you will land
safely, the Hudson and the East river would
be so full of corpses the ferryboats would be
impeded in their progress, and the crack OF
suicides pistol would be no more alarming
than the umhle of street car
l have sometimes heard it discussed
whether the great dramatiSt was Christian
or not. do not know, but know that ne
considered appreciation of 4 future existence
the mightiest hindrance to Selfdestructlon:
s.For VITO could bear the whips and scons of time,
The oppressors wrong, The proui man scontumey,
The pangs of desps'd owe. the laws delay,
The iusolerce of Office, and the spurns
That patient merit of the unworthy takes,
When he himself might his qnielus make
With bare book II! Who would fardels bear,
TO grunt aud sweat under weary life.
But that the dread OF something after death
The undiscovered country. from whose bourne
No traveller rctnrrs-ruzZ!e5 the wl,!'
Would God that the coroners would be
brave III rendering the right verdict, ana
when in case of responsibility they say:
'While this man was demented he took his
life:n in the other case say: Having READ
infidel looks and attended mfidel lectures;
which ohliterated from this mans mind aii
appreciation of anything like future retrl-
button. ne committed self-slaughter..'
All. Infdelty. stand up and take thy SEN
tencel In the presence of God and angels
and men, stand up thou monster, thy lip
blasted with blasphemy, thy cheek SCARED
with lust, thy breath foul with the
corruption of the ages, Stand up
Satyr, filthy goat, buzzard OF the ma,
tons, lepcr Of the centuries! Stand
-. thou monster Intdelity! Part
man, part panther, part reptile, part dragon,
red with the blood III which thou has5
washed thy feet crimson with the human
gore through which thou hast waded. STAND up
and take thy sentence! Down with thee to the
pit an sup on the sobs an groans OF families
thou has blasted and roll on The led OF knives
which thou hast sharpaned for othars, and
let thy music lie the everlasting miserere OF
those whom thou h lst damned l brand the
forehead OF infidelity with all the crimes OF
self-immo ution for the last century on the
part of those who had their reason.
Ny friends, if ever your life through us
abrasions and its molestatlons. should seem
to be unbearable, and you are tempted 10
quit it by your own behest do not CONSIDER
Yourself rs worse than others. Christ him.
self was tempted to cast Himself from tine
roof of the Temple, but as He resisted,
so resist ye. Christ came to medicine
all our wounds. In your trouble prescribe
life instead of death. People who have hao
it worse than you will ever have it have gone
songful on the way. Remember that Goa
keeps the chronology of your life WITH as
much precision as tie keeps tho chronology
Of nations, Your death a; we'll as your cradle.
Why was it that at midnight just at mid
night, the destroying angel struck the blow
that set the Israelites tree from hondages
The four hundred and thirty years were up
at twelve o'clock that night. The four. hun
dred and thirty years were not up at eleven,
and one O'Clock would nave Oeen taTuy iiuu
too late. The four hundred and thirty years
were up at twelve clock, and the destroying
angel struck the blow and Israel was free:
And Col knows Just the hour when it is time
to lead you up from earthly bondage. By
His grace make not the worst of things, but
the lest ot-shen. If you must take the pills,
do i. chow them. Your everlasting re-
wards will accord with your earthly per-
turbations, just as Caius gave to Aggrlppa
chain of gold rs heavy as hal been
chain of iron. For the asking-and do not
know to whom speak in this august assem-
blage, but the word may be especially. ap-
propriate-for your asking you may have
The same grace that was given to the italian
martyr, Algerius, who, down in the darkest
Of dungeons, dated his letter from the de
lectable orchard of the Leonine prison"
And remember that this brief life Of ours
is surrounded by 4 rim, @ very thin but very
important rim, and close up to that rim is