The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1888-08-01
The Newspaper Heaven.

The New York Mail and Express has some
good remarks on the custom OF hewslaPsi;1
10 follow the heathen motto, De no'Iuts Te n.
nist bonu,a, "Speak nothing except gooG OF tne a
dead :" and send every dead hero, whether
good or bad, to the better world. 1t says:
tThe press that Immediately prociaims on
the death of any man that he has "gone to
the Setter world" that "struggle and suffer
Ing are now ended with him." that he had "a
dogs life in this world ana Is giaa 10 EGt o,,,
the revelation which God has made TO man
kind, aud which is our only means OF Know
ledge concerning things beySnd Sa IN ihis
world, and furnish to the departing lie WIFI
which to 60 into the next.
II the press would send any one to heaven,
let them compare his life with the req9islteS sue,
set forth in the Scriptures, and do SO II tney
warrant 1t; but do not let them encouIuse
vice in the living by an indiscriminate pass.
ing OF all who die into paradise. Actlng on
this rule will not lead US to judge any man ga
who are not the judge Of our fellows Gom Gi
"hath appointed a day in which ie VIII
Judge the world in righteousness by tne tt, MAJ,
given assurance unto all men, in that hat, ne II;
hath raised him from the dead. rug sa a,.a es
Athens. And yet we may use the eFll uoiio i,o
by and one who has died, as warning 10 Tue Tue
living in the most opportune manher.--a'" '"o-
eiate Reformed Presbyterian.
Upon which, with due Difference anu pro-
per respect for those from whose views We
may dissent, we would remark:
AS question Of fact, we think the secular
newspapers very seldom err in the matter O
sending the dead to heaven. 1t is not theii
province to do so, neither is it the right o.
any religious newspaper, preacher, or otnel
eulogizer OF the dead to pronounce Judgment
Secular newspapers. as rule, deal with
mans character-and not with his religious
professions. The world at large cares little OF
nothing for any mans professions. II is MS
character and his recorded acts which nave
weight with the world, and while 1t is legltl
mate and proper to eulogize the noble quail
ties OF the dead, yet no man has right to
parade the faults and shortcomlng Oh any
brother who has just gone out from amonss'
US, even in the darkness Of the night. Fol
these very sins he may have been forgiven
and whether forgiven or not, to bring Them
up again is violatlve Of our every instinct. i
the deceased has been forgiven at the last
moment then the rehearsal of his sins must
be offensive to died that we might
live-eyen to him who said: "Though youl
sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as
snow; though they be red like crimson, they
shall be as WOOL"
It seems to US that 1t is great mistake for
any mortal man to undertake to tell whereth
soul of any brother has gone. The human
heart is desperately wicked. The saving
power OF the Son OF Man Is unlimited. The
preacher who assigns the dead, subjects HIM
self and the deceased TO criticism, and the
editor who would undertake 10 pass judgment
goes outside the limit of his duty, and makes
utterance which has neither weight nor In
fiaence with any one
A secular newspaper has no right to enlarge
on any mans religious faith, except where
that faith and zeal have prompted the de-
ceased to life of usefulness, and then the
particular deeds of the deceased may be re
ferred to with propriety, but OF his religious
faith we may say less-that sacred precinct
must not be entered.