Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1891-04-11

J. - GCO
heard the forests clap their hands, or
the orchards in blossom week aglee
with redolence. But there is laugh
ter which is deathful, there is a laugh
ter which has the rebound of despair
1t is not healthy to giggle about God,
or chuckle about eternity. or slnirk
about the things Of the immortal SOUL
You know what caused the accident
years ago on the Hudson River railroad.
1t was an intoxicated lnnn who for a
joke pulled the string Of tho air brake
and stopped the train at the most dan
gerous point OF the journey. But the
lightning train, not knowing there was
any impeachment in the way, came
down, crushing out of the mangled vic
tins the immortal souls that went speed
ing instantly to God and judgment 1t
was only joke. He thought it would
ss:be such fun to stop the train. He
stopped iii And 50 infdeIity is,cllieiy
anxious to stop lifelong train of the
2slsibie, and leIong train Of the churches,
sand tile long Strainsof Christian intlu-
.senees lie comm d wn1upo JUS; are
dglent {and a eternity coming
sfho1slnd STILES b Eiinute coming with
more force than al the avslanches that
ever slipped from The Alps, coming with
y
more strength than all the lightning
express trains that ever whistled or
shricked or thundered across the cont
nent.
THE LAUGHTER OF FOOLS
Now, in this POPULARITY of infidel
thinkers cannot join, and propose
to give you SOME reasons why cannot
be All infdel, and so will try to help
: out of this present condition any who
may have been struck with the awful
plague of stepticisnl.
First cannot be an infldel because
infldelity has no good substitute FOR the
consolation it proposes to take-away.
You know there are millions of people
who get their chief consolation from
this book. What would you think Of
a crusade of this sort2 Suppose a man
should resolve, that ho would organize
conspiracy to destroy all the inedi-
cines from all the apotllecaries and
from all the hospitals of the earth. The
work is done The medicines are taken
and they are thrown into the river, or
the lake, or the sea-
A patient wakes up at midnight in a
paroxysln of distress and wants an
anodyne "Oh," says the nurse, 1.-THE
nnodynes are all destroyed; we have
no drops to give you. but instead Of
that I'll read you Il book OH the alb
surdities of morphine and on the alb
surdities of all remedies" But the man
continues to writLe in pain, and the
nurse says: "Fll continue to read you
some discourses on anodynes, the cruel
ties of anodyncs. the indecencies Of
anodynes, the 'absurdities of .anodynes.
For your groan I'll give you a laugh. "
Here in the hospital is patient having
a gangrened limb amputaated. lie says:
..Oh. for ether oh, for chlorofortn"
The doctors say: why, they are all
destroyed; we don't have any more
cllorofo1n, or ether; but | have got
something great deal better I'll read
you pamphlet against james Y. !Simp
son, the discovererof cl1loroforIf rs an
annsthetic, and against Doctors Agnew
and Hamilton and Hosack and
Mott and Harvey and Abenethy. "
But" says the man, II must have
some anesthetics." NO" say the
doctors, "they are all destroyed,
but we have got something a
great deal better" What is thatT
'.Fun." Fun about medicines. Lie
down, all ye patients in Bellevue hos
pital, and stop your grooming; all ye
broken hearted of all the cities, and
quit your crying; we have the cathol-
icon mt lastl Here is dose of wit;
here is strengthening plaster of sar-
casm; here is bottle of ribaldry that
you are to keep we'll shaken up, and
take spoonful Of it after each meal,
and if that does not cure you, here is
solution of blasphemy in which you
may battle, and here is O tincture OF
derision. Tickle the skeleton of death
with o repartee Make the King Of
Terors cacklel For all the agonies OF
oil the ages, jokel Millions of people
willing with uplifted hand toward
heaven to affirm that the gospel of
Jesus Christ is full of consolation for
them, and yet iniidelity proposes to
take it away, giving nothing, abso-
lutely nothing, except fun. Is there
any greater height or depth or length
or breadth or immensely OF meanness
in all Gods universal
MISERY OF IGNORANT No-FAITH.
Infdelity is religion of Don't
know" Is there God7 Don't knowl
Is the soul immortal2 Don't know! If
we should meet each other in the fut-
ure world will we recognize each other2
Don't knowl A religion of Don't
know" for the religion Of II know" II
know in whom have believed, 81
know that my Redeemer livetll." In
fidelity proposes to substitute religion
of awful negatives for our religion of
glorious positives showing right before
us world of reunion and ecstasy and
high colnpanionship and glorious wor-
ship and stupendous victory the
mightiest Joy on earth not high enough
to reach to the base of the Himalaya OF
uplifted splendor awaiting all those
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