The Penn's Grove record., 1899-08-11

nation, this great Swindle OF the ages, SO
when they find him dead they find him on
his knees. william, T.. Gladstone, the
strongest Intellect In England, unable to
resist this chimera, this fallacy, this de.
fusion of the Christian religion, went 70
the house of God every Sabbath and often,
at the invitation Of the rector, read the
prayers to the people. II those mighty in-
t%ellects are overborne by this delusion,
what chance is there for you and for mel
Besides that, l have noticed that first
rate infidels cannot be depended on fof
steadfastness In the proclamation of their
sentiments. Goethe, a leading skepttc,
was so wrought upon by this Christianity
that in n weak moment he cried out, "My
belief In the Bible has saved me in my lit
erary and moral life" Rousseau, one OF
the most eloquent champions Of infidelity,
spending his whole life warning against
Christianity, cries out, The majesty OF
the Scriptures amazes mo-" Altemont,
the notorious inliel, one would think he
would have been safe against the delusion
OF the Christian religion. Oh, mol After
talking against Christianity all his days,
In his last hours no cried out, "0h, Thou
blasphemed but most indulgent Lord God,
hell itself IS a refuge II 1t hide me from Thy
frownl' Voltaire, the most talented in1del
the world ever saw, writing $50 publica-
lions, and the most OF them spiteful against
Christianity, himself the most notorious
libertine of the eentury-one would have
thought he could have been depended
upon for steadfastness in the advocacy OF
lnfdelity and in the war against this terri
BILE chlmera, this delusion OF the Gospel.
But no; in his last hour he asks for
Christian burial, and asks that they
give him the sacrament of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Why, you cannot de-
pend upon these first rate inhdels; you
cannot depend upon their power to resist
this great celusion Of Christianity. Thomas
| Dafpa thn God 80 ,ooIa~n nI-arttaa hiu
birthday celebrated in New York and Bos-
ton with great enthusiasm-Thomas Paine.
the paragon OF Bible haters-Thomas
Paine, about whom his brother inldeli,
William Carver, wrote In n letter which 1
have at my house, saying that he drank q
quart OF rum n day and was too mean and
too dishonest to pay for ~lt-Thomas Paine,
the adored Of modern inhdelity-Thonas
Paine, who stole another mans wife in
England and brought her to this country
Thomas Paine, who was so squalid and
so loathsome and so drunken and so prof
llgate and so beastly in his habits. some
times picked out of the ditch, sometimes
too filthy to be picked out-Thomas Paine,
one who would have thought that be
could have been depended on for stead
i~astness against this great delusion.
But no. In his dying hour he begs the
Lord Jesus Christ for mercy. Powerful
delusion, all conquering delusion. earth
hatn Ab9 NkAbFtCh VI Ia ClAA NlA lOh
Yea, it goes on. 1t Is so impertinent, and
1t is SO oyerbearing, this chlmera OF the
Gospel, that, having conquered the great
picture galleries Of the world, the old mas
tiers and the young masters, 1t is not salts
fed until it has conquered the music Of tho
world. Look over the programme of any
magnificent musical festival and see what
ere the great performances and learn that
the greatest OF all the subjects are religious
subjects.
Deluded lawyers-Lord Cairns, the high
est legal authority In England, the ex-ad-
wiser of the throne, spending his vacation
In preaching the Gospel Of Jesus Christ to
the poor people of Scotland. Frederick T.
Frelinghu ysen, Of New Jersey. once Secre-
tary ofState, an old-fashioned Evangelical
Christian, an elder in the Reformed
Church. John Bright, a deluded Quaker.
Henry Wilson, the Yiee-President of the
United States, dying n deluded Methodist
or CoBgregationallst. Earl Of Kintore dy-
Ing a deluded Presbyterian.
Yes, this delusion Of the Christian re-
ligion shows itself in the fact that it goes
to those who are In trouble. Now, 1t is
bad enough to cheat n man when he is nell
and when he is prosperous, but this re-
iigion comes to a man wAensse is sick and
says: "You will be well again after awhile.
You are going into q land where there are
no coughs, and no pleurisies, and no con-
sumptions, and no languishing. Take
courage and bear up" Yea, this awful
chimera of the Gospel comes to the poor,
and it says to them, "You are on your
way to vast estates aud to dividends al
ways declarable." This delusion OF Chris
tianity comes to the bereft, and 1t talks Of
reunion before the throne and of the cessa-
ton OF all sorrow. mt then, to show that
this delusion will stop at absolutely moth
ing, 1t goes to the dying bed and fills the
man with anticipations. How much better
II Nynul1 he To hayn him die without anV
more hope than swine and rats and makes
Shovel him underl That is nil. Nothing
more left Of him. He will never know any,
thing again. Shovel him underl The soul
is only Il superior part OF the body, and
when the body d~isintegrates the soul dis
integrate'. Anuthilation, vacancy, ever
lasting blank, obliteration. Why not pres
ent all that beautiful doctrine to the dying
instead of coming with this hoax, this
swindle OF the Christian religion, and I'LL
ing the dying man with a~nticipatlons OF
another life until some In the last our
have clapped their hands, and some have
shouted, and some have sung, and some
have been 80 overweight with JOY that
they could only look ecstatic? Palace
gates opening, they thought-diamond
coronets flashing, hands reckoning, or
chestras sounding. Little children dying
actually believing they saw their departed
parents. so that although the little chill
dren had been 50 weak and feeble and sick
for weeks they could not turn on their dy-
ing pillow at the last, in a paroxysm of
rapture uncomfortable they sprang TO their
feet and shouted, Mother, catch me; 1
am coming"
And to show the immensely OF this delu-
sion, this awful swindle Of the Gospel of
Jesus Christ, l open a hospital, and l bring
into that hospital the deathbeds of Il great
many Christian people, and l take you by
the hand, and | walk up and down the
wards of that hospital, and I ask a few
questions. 1 ask, Dying Stephen, what
have you to say?" Lord, Jesus, receive
my spirit Dying John Wesley, what
have you to say?' ''The best of all is God is
with u.s." Dying Edward Payson, what
have you to say?" 81 float in a sea of
glory" Dying John Bradford, what have
you to say?' "If there be any way of 60
Ing to heaven on horseback, or in a fiery
chariot, 1t is this" Dying Neander, what
have you to say?" ''In am going to sleep
now. Good night" Dying Mrs. Flor
ence Foster, what have you to say?" "a
pilgrim In the valley, but the mountain
tops are all agleam from peak to peak"
what a glorious delusion! submerge me
with it, I'LL my eyes and ears with It, put 1t
under my head for a p~illow-this delusion
spread 1t over me for q canopy, put 1t un-
derneath me for an outspread wing, roll it
over me in ocean surges 10000 fathoms
deep. II lnndeltyi anu IL htneisn, anu IL
humiliation are n reality and the Chris
tian religion is a delusion, give me the de-
lusion.
Well, we will soon understand it all.
Your life and mine will soon be over. We
will come to the last bar of the music, to
the last act of the tragedy, to the last page
of the book-yea, to the last line and TIC
the last woodland to you and me 1t will
either be midnoon or midnight
QUEER PROVISION IN A WILL.
Sidney Hall Leaves Money to Combat
Doctrine of Souls Immortality.