Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1899-08-12

swear like an old salt. could gamble
In every style of gambling. knew all
the wickedness there was ut that time
nbrond. One dny my futher cleared ev-
erybody out Of the cabin except my
self and locked the door. He said:
David. what are you going to do?
What are you going to beT Well |
said, father. | am going to follow the
sea- Follow the sea and be poor,
miserable. drunken sailor kicked and
cutfcd about the world and die of fc
yer in foreign hospital oh, no! l
said. Father, | will not be that: | Will
tread the quarter deck and command
as you do. no. David, my fnther
said; no. David, person that has
your principles and your bad habits
will never tread the quarter deck or
command My fnthcr went out and
shut the door after him. and said
then, will change. will 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. soon after
that became IL Christian, and that de-
clded my fate for time and for eter-
nifty"
Another captive of this great Chris
tian delusion. There goes Saul of
Tarsus OIL horseback at full gallop.
Where Is he going? TO destroy Chris
tlans He wants no better play spell
than to stand and watch the hats and
coats of the murtlerers 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 II out Of him, they tried
to scare il out of him. they thought
they would give him enough of ii by
putting him on small diet. and denying
him CLOAK. and condcmning him as
criminal. and bowling II him through
the streets; but they could not freeze
it out of him. and they could not sweat
1t out Of him. and they could not pound
1t out of him. so they tried tho surgery
u,
&C he was decaptated. Perhaps the
mighticst intellect Of the 5000 years Of
the worlds existence hoodwinked,
cheated. cajoled. duprd by the Chris
tian religion.
"DeIunion" of ChrIstianity.
All. that is the remarkable thing
about this delusion OF Christianity! 1t
overpowers the strongest intellects.
Gather the critics, secular and reli-
glous. of this century together and put
vote to them as to which is the
greatest book ever written, and by
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 deluslon, If you
may Judge from the letter that be
wrote to Thomas Paine begging him
TO destroy "The Age Of Reason" in
manuscript and never let ii 80 Into
type, and writing afierwnrd, in his OLD
DAYS, "Of this Jesus Of Nazareth /
hfye to say that Tie system OF morals
&c eft and the religion he has given us
are tie best things the world has ever
seen or is likely to see" ratl'ick Hen
nv. the electric champion OF liberty, en-
shaved by this dclusion. so that he
saws. "rhe book worth all other books
nut together is the Bible Benjamin
Rush. the lending Psychologist and
anatomist Of his day. the great medical
scientist-what did lie say? 1.-The only
true and perfect religion is Christian
ity." Isaac Newton, the lending phi
losophcr of his time-what did he sayf
That man surrenderlng to this delu-
sion of the Christian religion. crying
out "rhe subllmest philosophy on
earth is the philosophy of the gospel.
David Brewster. ut the pronunciation
of whose name every scientist the
world over uncovcrs his head. David
Brewster saying. "Oh. this religion
has been u great light to me, very
great light all MY days" President
Theirs, the great French statesman,
acknowledging that he prayed when
he snid. II invoke the Lord God, in
whom am glad to believe" David
Livingstone, able to conquer the Hon.
able to conquer the panther, able 10
conouer the savage. yet conquered by
this drlusion. this hallucinaton. THIS
great swinGle of the ages. so when
they 0nA him dead they find him on
his knees. William Il. Gladstone the
strongest Intellect In England, unable
10 resist this chmera this fallacy. this
dc]usiou of the Christian religion, went
TO the house of God every Sabbath
and often. AT tue invitation of the rec
for read the prayers to the people. II
those mighty intellects are overcome
by this delusion. what chance IS tnefe
for you and for me?
About Infldels.
Besides that. have noticed thal
first rate intidsls cannot be depended
ON for steedfastness In the proclama-
ton of their sentiments. Goethe a
leading skeptic, vas so wrought upon
by this Christianity that In weak
moment he cried out. MY belief in the
Bible has saved me In my literary ana
moral life" Rousseau. one Of the most
eloquent champions of inhdellty'
spending his whole life warning
against Christianity, cries out. The
majesty of the Scriptures smazes me-"
Altemont, the notorious lnfdel, one
would think he would have been safe
against this deluslon Of the Christian
religion. Oh, no! After talking against
Christianity all his days, In his last
hours he cyied out. "Oh, thou BIAS
phemed but most indulgent LORD GOD,
hell Itself is a refuge If It hide me from
thy froWnv' Voltaire, the most talent
ed inhdel the world ever saw, whiting
$50 publications, and the most OF them
spitef1l against Christianity, himself
the most notorious libertine of the cen,
tury-one would have thought he could
have been depended upon for stead
fastness in the advocacy Of lnfdelity
and in the war against this terrible
chimera, this delusion Of the gospel