Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1899-09-15

ana VulIUTc, us pelNeen uuy anu
night. Tremendous deluson!
Admiral Farragut, one of the most
admired men of the American navy,
early became victim Of this CHris-
tian delusioR, and, seated not long be-
fore his death at Long Branch, he was
giving some friends an account Of his
early life. He said: "My father went
down in behalf of the United States
government TO put an end to Aaron
Burr's rebellion. was cabin BOY and
went along with him. | could swear
like an old salt, lcould gamble in every
style of gambling. knew all the wick
edness there was at that time abroad,
One day my father cleared every body
out of the cabin eXceptmyselfand locked
the door. He said: David, what are you
going TO do? What are you going TO
be?' WELL | said, father, am going
TO follow the sea- Follow the sea and
be n poor, miserable, drunken sailor,
kicked and cuffed about the world, and
die of fever in foreign hosptalY
oh, not | said. Father, ] will not be
that will tread the quarter deck and
command, as you do No, David my
father said; no, David, person that
has your principles andyour bad habits
will never tread the quarter deck or
command My father went out and
shut the door after him, and said
then: Il will change, Twill never swear
again, will never drink again, will
never gamble again. and, gentlemen,
by the help of God | have kept those
three vows to this time. l soon after
that became a Christian, and that de-
cided my fate for time and for eter-
nity."
Another captive of this great Chris
tian delusion. There goes Saul OF
Tarsus on horseback at full gallop.
Where is he going? TO destroy Chris
tians. He wants no better play spell
than to stand and watch the hats and
coats of the murderers who are mas
sacring Gods children. There goes the
same man. This time he is afoot.
Where is he going now? Going on the
road to Ostia to die for Christ. They
tried to whip it out of him, they tried
to scare it out of him, they thought
they would give him enough of it by
putting him on small diet, and denying
him cloak, and condemning him as Il
criminal, and bowling at him through
the streets; but they could not freeze
it out of him, and they could not sweat
it out of him, and they could not pound
it out of him, so they tried the surgery
of the sword, and one summer day in
66 he was decapitated. Perhaps the
mightiest intellect of the G,O00 years
of the worlds existence hoodwinked,
cheated, cajoled, duped by the Chris
tian religion.
Al, that is the remarkable thing
about this delusion of Christianity! 1t
overpowers the strongest intellects.
Gather the critics, secular and reli-
gious, of this century together and put
vote to them as to which is the
greatest book ever written, and by a
large majority they will say paradise
Lost" Who wrote paradise Lost"'
One of the fools who believed in this
Bible, John Milton. Benjamin Frank
lin surrendered to this delusion, if you
may Judge from the letter that he
wrote to Thomas Paine, begging him
TO destroy "The Age of Reason" in
manuscript and never let it go into
type, and writing afterward, in his old
days: "Of this Jesus of Nazareth
have 10 say of the system OF morals
lie left and the religion He has given us
are the best things the world has ever
seen or is likely to see." Patrick Henry
the electric champion of liberty, en-
slaved by this delusion, so that he says:
"The book worth all other books put TO-
gether is the Bible" Benjamin Rush
the leading ply ysiologist and anatomist
of his day, the great medical scientist
what did he say? "The only true and
perfect religion is Christianity" Isaac
Newton, the leading philosopher oi
his time-what did he say? That mar
surrendering to this delusion of Tho
Christian religion, crying out: '"ThC
sublimest philosophy on earth is The
philosophy of the Gospel" Davit
Brewster, at the pronunciation of whos'
name every scientist the world over un
covers his head, David Brewster saying
"Oh, this religion has been great ligh
TO me, a very great light all my days!
President Theirs, the great Frencl
statesman, acknowledging that HI
prayed when he said: IL invoke th'
Lord God, in whom l am glad to be
lieve." David Livingstone, able TO con
qucr the lion, able TO conquer the pan
, ther, able TO conquer the savage, ye
conquered by this delusion, this hal
lucination, this great swindle of th
,, ages, so when they find him dead the,
find him on his knees. William Il. Glad
stone, the strongest intellect in Eng
land, unable to resist this chimera, thi
, fallacy, this delusion of the Christian
religion, went to the house of co.
every Sabbath, and often, at the invi
tation of the rector, read the prayers {
) the people. If those mighty intellect
, are oyerborne by this delusion, wha
chance is there for you and me?
E Besides that, I have noticed tha
: first rate infidels cannot be depende
{ on for steadfastness in the proclami
e ton of their sentiments. Goethe,
\ leading sleptic, was so wrought upo
v by this Christianity that in wea
/ moment he cried out: my belief in tn
!. Bible has saved me in my literary an
@ moral life" Rosseau, one Of the mos
v eloquent champions of infdclit,
/, spending his whole life warrin
( against Christianity, cries out: "Tl
4 majesty of the Scriptures amazes me
d Altemont, the notorious infdel, or
O would think he would have been sal
l. against this delusion of the Christia