The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1899-08-16

u here Is h cong. 9 tes1lVt Nlil19
tiaos. lie wants no better play spci.
than 10 stand and watch the hats and
coats Of the uurdcrers 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 1t out Of him, they tried
to scare it out of him, they thought
they would give him enough Of it by put
tin, him into vjndowless dungeon;
aud keeping him on small diet, and
denying him cloak and condemnlng
him as criminal, and howling at nm
through the street but 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
dav in G6 he was decapitated perhaps
the mighticst intellect OF the o,oVo
years Of the worlds existence hood
vipLeG. cheated. cajoled. daped by the
Christian religion.
N. that is the remarkable thlpg
about this delusion Of Christianity It
overpowers the strongest lntellects.
Gather the critics, secular and religi-
ons of this century together and put a
vote to them as to whic is the greatest
book evcr written. and D., large majorl-
u they will say Paradise Lost. Who
wrote Paradise LOST One OF the
fools who believed in this Bible, John
Milton. Benjamin Franklin surren-
dered to this delusion, if you may
Judge from the letter that he wrote 70
Thomas Paine begging him to destroy
the Age Of Reason 10 manuscript and
never let it so into type and writing at
tcrUard in his old days, "Of this Jesus
of Nazareth | have to say that the sys-
TEN Of morals he 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, enslavcd by this delusion, SO
that he says, "The book worth all 9TH
Ell books put together IS the Bible.
BENJAMIN Rush, the leading physiolog-
ist and anatomist Of his day, the great
medical scientist, what did he say?
The Only true and perfect religion is
Christianity. Isaac Newton, the lead
ing philosopher Of bis time, what did
he say? That man, surrenderlng to
this delusion of the Christian religion,
crying out, ''The sublimest philosophy
on earth is the philosophy Of the gos-
pei. David Brewster, at the pronup-
citation of whose name every scientist
the world over uncoyers his head, Da-
vid Brewster saying, "Oh, sreligion
has been a great light to -ne, very
great light all my days. President
! Thiers, the great French stateman, &C
knovledging that he prayed when he
said, II invoke the Lord God, in whom
| am glad to believe" David Livings-
tone, able to conquer the lion, able to
conquer the panther, able to conquer
the savage, yet conquered by this delu-
sion, this hallucination, this great swim.
die of 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 delusion
of the Christian religion, went to the
house of God every Sabbath and often
a. the invitation Of the rector read the
prayers 20 the people. If those mighty
intellects are ovorborne by this celu-
sion, what chance is there for you and
for RE?
Besides that, l have noticed that
first rate infdels cannot be depended
On for steadfastness in the proclamation
Of their sentiments. Goethe, leading
sceptic, was 50 wrought upon by this
Christianity that in weak moment he
cried out. ''My belief in the Biple has
saved me in my literary and moral life.
Rousseau, one of the most eloqnent
champions of inidelity, spending his
whole life warning against Christianity
cries out, The majesty Of the Scrip
lures amazes me. Altemont, the no.
torious infdel, one would think he
would have been safe against this delu-
sion of tha Christian religion. Oh, no;
After talking against Christianity all
his days, in his last hours he cried out,
"Oh, thou blasphemed but most In
dulgent Lord God, hell itself is refuge
if it hide me from thy frown.' Vol
taire, the most talented infdel the world
ever saw, writing 250 publications, and
the most of them spitefr,l against
Christianity, himself the most notori-
Gus libertine of the century, one would
have thought ne could have been de-
pended upon for steadfastness In the
advocacy of infdelity and in the war
against this terrible chimera, this de-
lusion of the Gospel. But no. In his
last hour he asks for Christian burial
and asks that they give him the sacra-
ment of the Lord Jesua Christ. Why,
you cannot depend upon these first
rate infdels: you cannot depend upon
their power to resist this great delusion
Of Christianity. Thomas Pain, the
god Of modern skeptics, his birthday
celebrated in New York and Boston
with great enthusiasm-Thomss Paine,
the paragon of Bible haters; Thomas
! Pam. about whom his brother lnnOeI,
William Carver, wrote in a letter which
| have at my house, saying that he
drank quart Of rum day and was too
mean and too dishonest to pay for it;
Thomas Paine, the adored of modern
infdelity: Thomas Paine, who stole
another mans wife in England and
hrourht her to this country. Thomas
Paine. who was so squalid and so loath-
esome and so drunken, and so profit
gate, and so beastly in his habits,
sometimes picked cut Of the ditch:
sometimes 100 filthy to ne picked out:
Thomas Paine. one would have thought
that he conld have been depended on
for steadfastness against this great de-
lusion. But no. In his dying hour
hn hnqs the Lord .Jesus Christ for mer-