Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1899-08-10

will not be that. ! Will tread the quar-
ter deck and command as you do no,
David my father said. No, David. A
person that has your principles and your
bud habits will never tread the quarter
deck or command My father went out
and shut the door after him, and | snid
to him: 4 will change. | will never
swear again. | will never drink again.
l will never gamble again, and, gentle
men, 10y the help of God, l have kept
those three vows to this time. | soon
after that became n Christian, and that
decided my fate for time and for eter-
nifty"
The DeIusion of Saul
Another captive of this great Christian
deluSion There goes Saul of Tarsus on
horseback at full gullop. Where is he
going? To destroy Christians. lie wants
no better play spell than to stand and
watch the hats and coats of the murder
ers who are massacriug Gods children.
There goes the same man. This time he
is afoot. Where is he going now? Go
ing on the road to Ostia to die for Christ.
They tried to whip it out OF him, they
tried to scare it ont of him, they thought
they would give him enough of it by put-
ting him into windOwless dungeon, and
keeping him on small diet, and denying
him a cloak, and condemuing him as n
criminal, and bowling at him through the
street, but they could not sweat it out OF
him, and they could not pound it ont Of
him, SO they tried the surgery of the
sword. and one summer day in &C he was
decap itatcd-p perhaps the mightiest in
tcect Of the 5000 years of the world :
existence hoodwinked, cheated, cajoled,
duped by the Christian religion
All, that is the remarkable thing about
this delusion of Christianity; it ovcrpow-
ers the strongest intellects Gather the
critics, secular and religious, of this cen
fury together and put Il vote to them as
TO which is the greatest book ever writ
ten, and 10y large majority they will say
Paradise Lost" Who wrote paradise
Lost| One Of the fools who believed in
this Bible, John Milton. Benjamin
Franklin 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 manu-
script and never let it go into type and
writing aftcrward in his old days. "Of
this Jesus of Nazareth | have to say that
the system of morals he left and the rci-
giOn he has given MS are the best things
the world has ever seen or is likely to
see" Patrick Henry, the electric cham
pion of liberty, enslaved by this deluson,
so that he SAYS, "'The book worth all 9TH
or books put together is the Bible" Ben
jamin Rush, the leading psychologist and
anatomist of his day, the great medical
scientist what did he say? THE only
true and perfect religion is Christianity. y
Isaac Newton. the leading philosopher of
his time, what did he say? That man,
surrendcring to this delusion OF the Chris
tian religion. crying out. The sublimest
philosophy on earth is the philosophy of
the gospel" David Brewster, at the pro-
nunciation Of whose name every scientist
the world over uncovers his head. Da-
vid Brewster saying, "Oh, this religion
has been a great light to me, a very great
light all my days" President Theirs. the
great French statesman. acknowledging
that he prayed when he said. Il invoke
the Lord God, in whom | am glad to be-
lieve." David Livingstone, able to con-
quer the lion able to conquer the panther,
able to conquer the savage. yet conquered
by this deluSiOn. this hallucinaton. this
great swindle of the ages, so when they
find him dead they find him on his knees.
William r.. Gladstone, the strongest in
tcllCct in England, unable to resist this
/ chimera. this fallacy, this delusion OF the
Christian religion. went to the house OF
God every Sabbath and often at the invi-
tatior Of the rector read the prayers 10
the people. II those mighty intelccts are
overboiLS by this dclusion, what chanc,
is there for you and for me?
In liability of UnbcIievers.
II r
rate infidelS cannot be depended on for
stcadfastness in the proclamation of their
sentiments. Goethe, n leading sccptc
was so wrought upon by this Christians
~ that in Il weak moment he cried out
My belief in the Bible has saved me in
my literary and moral life" Rousseau
one of the most eloquent champions of in
fidelity, spending his whole life warning
against Christianity, cries out, THE ma
esty Of the Scriptures amazes me-" Alte
/ mont, the notorious intidel one woulC
think he would have been safe against
this delusion of the Christian religion
| Oh, no. After talking against Christian
! ity all his days, in his last hours he crict
out ooh, thou basphcmed but most in
| dulgent Lord God, hell itself is a refuge
/ if it hide me from thy frown." Noltaire
the most talented intidel the world eve
saw, writing go publications, and thu
most Of them spitcful against Christiani
ty himself the most notorious libertine o.
/ the century, one would have thought h
could have been depended upon for stead
fastness in the advocacy of infdelity an,
in the war against this terrible chimera
this delusion of the Gospel. But no. II
his last hour he asks for Christian buria
and asks that they give him the sacra
ment of the Lord Jesus Christ. Why, 70,
cannot depend upon these first rate in
! hdelS; you cannot depend upon thei
power to resist this great dclusiol
of Christianity. Thomas Paine, tn
god of modern skcptics, his birth
day celebrated in New York an,
Boston with great enthusa sm-Thoma
Paine, the paragon of Bible haters
Thomas Paine, about whom his brothe
intdel, William Carver, wrote in a lettc
which | have at my house, saying that h.
drank n quart of rum day and was to
mean and too dishonest TO pay for il
Thomas Paine, the adored of modern in
fidelity; Thomas Paine, who stole anoth
or mans wife in England and brough
her to this country; Thomas Paine, VIII
was so squaiid and so loathesome and s
drunken, and so profligate, and so beastl
in his habits, sometimes picked ont of tn
ditch, sometimes too filthy to be pickle
out; Thomas Paine, one would hav
thought that he could have been depend
ed on for steadfastness against this gres
deusion
But no. In his dying hour he begs th
Lord Jesus Christ for mercy. Powerf,
dcusion, all conquering delusion, eartl
quakng derusion Of the Christian r,