The Progress. (Shreveport, La.) 1892-1900, 1898-07-16

and widely read there was marked in
crease of self slaughter.
Evils of Unbeiief.
A man in London heard Mr. Owen de-
liver his intidel lecture on socialism and
went homo, sat down and wrote these
words, Jesus Christ is one of the weakest
characters in history, and the Bible is the
greatest possible 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
nime in my divcrting a few drops of blood
from their ordinary channely' And, hav'
ing written the essay, he loaned it to d
friend, the friend read it, wrote a letter OF
thanks and admiration and shot himself.
Appendix to the same book.
Rousseau, Voltairc, Gibbon, Montaigne,
were apologize for self immolatiOn. In
fidelity puts up no bar to people rushing
ont 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 obiivious no.
where or glorious somewhere. And in
fidelity holds the upper end of the rope for
the suicide and aims the pistol with which
| q man blows his brains out and mixes tho
strychnine for the last swallow. If intidel-
ity could carry the day and persuade the
| majority of people In this country that it
does not make any difference how you go
| out of this world you will land safely, the
| Potomac would be SO full of corpscs the
| boats would be impeded in their progress,
and the crack of the suicides pistol would
| be no moro alarming than the rumble Of
street car.
l have sometimes heard 1t discussed
whether the great dramatst was a Chris
tian or not. He was Christian. In his
last will and testament he commcnds his
soul to God through the sacrifice Of Jesus
Christ. know that he considered appre
citation of a future existence the mightiest
hindrance to self destruction:
For who would bear the whips and scorns Of
| time,
The oppressor's wrong, the proud mans con-
| tumely,
The pangs of despised love, the laws delay
| The nsolence Of office and the spurns
That patient merit of the unworthy takes
|
| With bare bodkinI Who would fardcls bear
| To grunt and sweat under weary life,
But that the dread Of something after death
The undiscovered country from whose bourne
! No traveller returns-puzzles the will?
Would God that the coroners would I've
brave in rendering the right verdict, and
when in a case of irrcsponsibility they
say, "While this man was demented he
took his life," In the other case say "IIav-
ing read infdel books and attended infidel
lectures, which obliterated from this
mans mind all appreciation of future
rctribution, he committed self slaughter. "
Religions Bright Light.
Have nothing to do with an infidelity so
cruel, SO debasing. Come out of that bad
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 the
best things the world has ever seen or is
likely to sce." Patrick Henry, the electric
champion of liberty, says, "The book
worth all other books put together is the
Bible" Benjamin Rush, the leading
Psychologist and anatomist of his day, the
great medical scientist-what did he say9
"The only true and perfect religion is
Christianity" Isaac Newton, the leading
philosopher of his time-what did he sayS
"The sublimest philosophy on earth is the
philosophy of the gospel" David Brew
ster, at the pronunciation of whose name
every scientist the world over bows his
head-David Brewster saying, ooh, this
religion has been a great light to me, a
very great light all my days" President
Theirs, tho great French statesman, &C.
knowledging that he prayed when he said
II invoke the Lord God, in whom am
glad to believe" David Livingstone, able