Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1898-07-14
And he will make II plain.
Treason to the Almighty.

rcaso-i, by his own act, snaps tho bond bo-
tween his body and his soul, goes straight
into pcrdition. Shall prove it' Rcvela-
ton xxi, 8, "Murdorcrs shall have their
part in the lake which burncth with fro
and birthstone. Revelation xii, 10,
without are dogs and sorcefers and
whorcmongcrs and murdcrcrs You do
not believe tho New Testament? Then
perhaps you believe the Ten Command
mcuts, "Thou shalt not KILL" DO you
say that all these passages refer to the TAX
ing of tho life of othcrsp Then ask you
If you arc not rs responsible for your own
lifo rs for tho life of othersS God gavo
you special trust in life and made you
the custodian of your life, and he mado
you the custodian of no other life. He
gave you as weapons with which to de-
fcnd 1t two arms to strike back assailants,
two eyes to watch for invasion, and nat
ural love of life which ought ever to DO on
the alert. Assassination of others Is u
mild crime compared with the assassina-
tion Of yourself, because In the latter case
it is treachery to an especial trust 1t is
tho surrender of castle you were especial
ly appointed to keep 1t is treason to u
natural law, and II Is treason to God added
to ordinary murder
10 show how God in the Bible looked
upon this crime point you to the rogues'
picture gallery in some parts of the Bible,
the pictures of the people who have COM
mittcd this unnatural crime. Here Is tho
hcadlcss trunk of Saul on the walls Of
Bathshan. Here is n man who chased
little David 10 feet in stature chasing 4.
Hero Is the man who consulted clairvoy-
ant, witch of Endor Hero Is q man who
e 4,
his sword with dignity, as many u man has
done, asks his servant to slny him, and
when that servant declined, then the giant
plants the hilt of his sword in the earth,
tho sharp point sticking upward, and he
throws his body on 1t and cxpircs--tho
coward the suicidcl Hero is Ahitophcl,
tho Machiavclli of olden times, bctraying
his best friend David, in order that he
may become prime minister of Absalom,
and joining that fellow in his attempt Mt
parricidc. Not getting what he wanted 10y
change of politics he takes short cut out
eternity. There he is, the migrated
Hero is Abimoloch, practically n suicide.
He is with an army, bombarding u tower,
when u woman in the tower takes n grind
stone from its place and drops it upon his
head, and with what life he has left in his
cracked skull he commands his armor
bearer, Draw thy sword and Stay me,
lest men say n woman slew me-" There
is his post mortem photograph in tho book
OF Samuel.
But tho hero of this group is Judas Is
CARROT. DR.. Donnc says he was martyr
and we have in our day apologists for him.
And what wonder, in this day when wo
have book revealing Aaron Burr as "A
pattern of virtue, and this day when we
uncover u statue of George Sand rs tho
bcnefactrcss Of literature and in this day
when there are betrayals of Christ on tho
part of some OF his pretended apostles-a
betrayal so black it makes the infamy of
Judas lscariot white! Yet u. IN by
bis OWN hand hung up for the excavation
of oil ages Judas Iscariot.
Increase of Self Murder.
All the good men and women Of the BIZ
BILE left to God tho decision of their earthly
terminus, and they could have said with
Job, who had right to commit suicide If
any man ever had, what with his destroy
cd property and his body all anamc with
insufferablo carbunclcs and everything
gone from his home except the chief curse
of it, pcstiicrous wife and four gurrulous
DfpHlt DtililB MN W I'm 'OllIloilitSo AVN
while he sits on helpof ashes scratching
his scabs with "a piece of broken pottery,
yet crying out in triumph, An the days
Of my appointed timo will l wait till my
change comes.
Notwithstanding the Bible is against
this evil and the aversion which it creates
by the loathsomc and CHASTITY spectacle OF
those who have hurled themselves out OF
1ifn md pptlyit hstnn6inU (lbri nifty is
against it and the arguments and the use
ful lives and the illustrious deaths of its
disciples, it is fact aarmingly patent
that suicide is on the increase. What i.
the causoy charge upon infldclity and
agnosticisn this whole thing. If there bt
no hereafter, or if that hereafter be bliss
full without reference TO how we 1.-Two and
how we die, why not move back the fold
ing doors between this world and the
nextY And when our existence here be
comes troublesome why not pass right
o-or into clysium? Put this down among
your most solemn reflections. There ha.
never been case of suicide where the
operator was not either dcmcnted ant
therefore irresponsible or an intldel
challenge all the ages and challenge the
universe. There never has been n case o
self destruction while in fun appreciation
of his Immortality and of tho fact thai
that Immortality would DO glorious oil
wrctchcd according as no accepted Jesus
! Christ or rejected him.
You say 1t is n business trouble or yor
say 1t is electrical currents or 1t Is this OF
1t is that or 1t is the other thing. Why moi
| go clear back, my friend, and acknowlcdg,
that In every case it is the abdicaton o
reason or the teaching Of infldelity, which
| practically says, If you don't like Mi!
life, get out OF 1t, and you will land eithcl
| in humiliation, where there arc no note
/ to pay, no,pcrsecutions to suffer, no gou
! to torment, or you will land where thor,
will be everything glorious md nothing
! to pay for It. Inhdelity has always beer
Apologize for self immolation, After Ton
| Paine's Age of Reason" was published
and widely read there was n marked in
crease Of self slaughter,
Evils OF UnbelieE
A man In London heard Mr.. Owen de
| liver his inildcl lecture on socialism ant
won't home, sat down and wrote thes
words, Jesus Christ is one of tho wcakcs
characters in history, and the Bible is tn,
greatest possible deception" and thei
shot himself David IIume wrote thcs,
words: 1T would be no crimo for me {,
divert the Nile or the Danube from IL
natural bed. Where, then, can be TIN
crime in my diverting a few drops of BLOOD
from their ordinary channol?" And, hay
ing written the essay, no loaned it to
friend, the friend read It, wrote n letter o.
thanks and admiration and shot himself
Appendix to the same book.
Rousseau, Voltaire, Gibbon, Montaignc
were Apologize for self immolation. In
fidelity puts up no bar to people rushing
ont from this world into the next The,