Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1898-07-27

whipped in battle. instead OF surrcuderirS
/ his sword with dignity, as many man has
| done, asks his servant to slly him, anI
when that servant declined, then the giant
plants the hilt of his sword in the earth
the sharp point sticking upward, and he
throws his body 1t and exptrcs-thc cow
ard, the suicii4l Here is Ahitophcl. the
Machiavelli of Olden times, betraving his
best friend, David, in order that he may be-
come prime minister of Absalom, and Join
ing that fellow In his attempt at parriridn
| Not getting what he wanted by change of
| politics, he takes short cut out of II dis
graceful life into the suicides eternity.
There he is, the migrate!
Here is Abimelech, practically a suicide
| He is with an army, bombarding a tower
! when a woman in the tower takes a grind
| stone from its place and drops 1t upon his
head, and with what life he has left in his
| cracked skull he commands his armor-
! bearer: Draw thy sword and slay me,
| lest men say woman slew me-" There Is
his post-mortem photograph in the Book Of
| Samuel.
| But the hero of this group is Juias
| Iscariot. DR.. Donne says he was mar
| tyr, and we have in our day apoloGists for
| him. And what wonder in this day when
! we have book revealing Aaron Barr az n
| pattern of virtue, and in this day when we
| uncover a statue of George Sand as tho
| bencfactress of literature and in this day
| when there dre betrayals OF Christ on the
u
! betrayal so black it makes the in'Gmy Of
| Judas Iscariot whitcl Yet this man by his
hand hung up for the execration OF all
| ages, Judas Iscariot.
All the good men and women of the ible
| left to God the decision of the earthly
terminus, and they could have said with
| Job, who had a right to commit suicide if
any man ever had what with his destroyed
| property AMI his body all afiamc with in
! sufferable carbuncles, and everything gone
! l.. \, . 4.
| a pestiferous wife and four garrulous peO-
| pie pelting him with cOmiortless talk while
! he sits on a heap of ashes scratching his
! scabs with q piece of broken pottery, yet
| crying out in triumph: "All the days of my
! appointed time will l wait till my change
| comes"
Notwithstanding the Bible is against this
evil, and the aversion which it creates by
| the lOathsome and ghastly spectacle OF
/ those who have hurled themselves out of
! life, and Notwithstanding Christianity Is
| against it and the arguments and the use
full lives and the illustrious deaths of its
| disciples, it is fact alarmingiy patent
! that suicide is on the increase. What l.
| the cause? | charge upon inilleity AMI
| agnostcism this whole thing. If thrce be
| no hereafter, or if that hereafter be bliss
| ful without reference to how We live and
| how we die, why not move back the fold
| ing doors between this world and the
| next? And when our existence here he
! comes troublesome why not pass right
| over into EIysiuml Put this down among
! your most solemn reflections. There has
| never been a case of suicide where the
| operator was not either dementel, and
therefore irresponsible, or an inf lei. l
challenge all the ages and challeng' the
universe. There never has been a
| case of self-destructiOn while in full
appreciation of his Immortality and of the
| fact that that Immortality would be giori-
| Gus or wrctchei according as he accepted
! Jesus Christ or rejected Him.
You say it is "A business trouble, or You
| say it is electrical currents or it Is this OF
| ii is that, or il is the other thing. Why not
so clear back, my friend, and acknow ledge
| that in every case 1t is the abdication OF
reason or the teaching of inildelity, which
| practically says: If you don't like this
| life get out of it, and you will land either
| in nnnihilatiOn, where there are no notes
to pay. no prosecutions to suffer, no gout
to torment, or you will land where there
will be everything glorious and nothing t
pay for it," Inidelity has always beer
apologetic for rself-immOlation. After Ton
Paine's age of Reason" was published
and widely read there was n marked in
crease of self-slauShter.
man in London heard Mr.. Owen de
liver his intldel lecture on socialism. and
went home, sat down, AMI wrote these
words: Jesus Christ is one of the weakest
| characters in history and the Bible is n,
| himself. David Hume wrote these words
at would he no crime for me to divert the
Nile or the Danube from its natural bed
Where, then, can be the crime in my divert
ing Il few drops of blood from their orlin
| ary channcl?' And having written Tho
essay he loaned it to a friend, the friend
read it, wrote a letter of thanks and admir-
alton, and shot himself. Appendix to the
same book.
Rousseau, Volt aire, Gibbon, Montaigne
! We're Apologize for self-im N olatiOn. INF
deity puts up no bar to people rushing out
from this world into the next. They teach
us 1t does not make any difference how you
live here or go out of this world: you will
land either in an obliviOus nowhere or {
glorious somewhere. And inldelity holds
the upper end of the rope for the suicide
and aims tho pistol with which man
blows his brains out, and mixes the strych'
nine for the last swallow, If infldelity
could carry the day and persuade the ma
iority of people in this country that it does
not make any difference how You go out
of this world you will land safely, tn,
| Potomac would be so full of corpses the
boats would be impeded in their progress
and the crack of the suicides pistol would
be no more alarming than the rumble of q
street car.
| have sometimes heard it discussed
whether the great dramatlst was Chris
tan or not. He was n Christian. In hi:
soul to God through the sacrifice of Jesus
Christ.
Would God that the coroners would b,
brave in rendering the right verdict, and
when in n case of irrespOnsibility they say
'Whilc this man was demented he took hi.
life:" in the other case say: Having read
infldel books and attended inldel lectures
which oblterated from this mans mind al
appreciation OF future retribution, he com
mitted 5elf-slaug ghteri"
Have nothing to do with an infldclity 81
cruel, so debasing. Come out of that baC
company into the company of those who
believe the Bible. Benjamin FRANKLIN
wrote: "Of this Jesus of Nazareth [ have
to say that the system of morals He left
and the religion He has given US are tn,
best things the world has ever seen or /.
likely to see" Patrick Henry, the electri,
champion of liberty, says: "The boob
| worth all other books put together Is tn,
Bible" Benjamin Rush, the Leading phys
iolOGist and anatomist of his day, the Grca
medical scientist-what did he say? 9Th,
only true and perfect religion l. Chrstiani
ty." Isaac Newton, the leading philoso
pher OF his timc-what did he say? ''Th'
5ublimest philosophy on earth is the philos
ophy of the Gospel" David Brewst er
at the pronunciation of whose name ever,
scientist the world over bows his head
David Brewster, saying: "Oh, this religion
has been a great light to me, very grca
light all my days" President Thicrs, th'
great French statesman, acknowledges
.hat he prayed when he said: '1 invok'
the Lord God, in whom l am glal to be
lieve." David Livingstone, able to con
fquer the lion, able to conquer the panther
able to conquer the savage, yet conqucre,
by this religion, so when they fin hin
dead they find him on his knees.
Salmon Z. Chase, Chief Justice of the Su
preme Court of the United States, appoint
ed by President Lincoln, will take the wit
ness stand. "Chief Justice Chase, please t
statc what you have 10 say about the boo
commonly railed the Bible" The witnc=
replies: - ere came time in my if
when I doubted the divinity Of the Script
urcs, and l resolved rs lawyer and judG
[ would try the book us | would try every
thing else in the courtroom, taking ey
dence for and against. 1t was long an
serious and profound study, aEi using tn
same principles of evidence in this religion
matter as always do in secular matters,
ho, 70 Iaaisipp that thn nibIa