Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1907-02-07

Tor MIN TO CrltlCiSe DefOre IL was pup
llshed. Mr.. Franklin read the manu-.
script and then wrote to Thomas Paine
the following letter:
Franklin to Paine.
Dear Sir-1 will not enter into any dis
cussion Of your principles though you
seem to desire 1t. At present I shall only
give my opinion that. though your reason
ings are subtle and may prevail with
some readers, yet you will not succeed so
as to change the general sentiments OF
mankind upon that subject. and the con-
sequence of printing this piece will be
great deal OF odium drawn upon yourself.
mischief to you and no benefit to others.
I would advise you. therefore. not to at
tempt to unchain the tiger. but to burn
this piece before It liz seen by any other
person. II men are so wicked with re-
ligion, what would they be without II?
He that spits against the wind spts In
his own face. b. FRANKLIN.
Reasonable and powerful letter that.
But Paine would not heed the warning.
He sent forth his age Of Reason" on
its mission Of spiritual and moral and
physical destruction. That book brought
as Paine. We hardly ever think Of
him except as the infidel, the bias
phemer and the enemy of society. But
amid your excavations of this book do
you recall the fact that Paine the in
fldel was also Paine. one OF the great
leaders and most powerful factors In
the struggle for American liberty? In
the darkest days which preceded the
preparation of the Declaration Of In
dependence his pen was busy. He
published q book at that time called
Common Sense" 1t was a plea for
national independence. 1t was written
in simple language and was read every
where. Dare any man. facing the his
torical facts, declare that God did not
forge out of the basphemous pen of
soothing infdel golden wand to guide
the American people into Independence
hall Of old Philadelphia?
Arnold as a Fighter.
Study the life of Benedict Arnold
We deride and excoriate that name.
We say Arnold? Oh, yes. there is
one Arnolds name which we all hate,
and that IL the name of Arnold the
traitor" But Benedict Arnold did not
attempt to betray West Point until
11I9, or until the Revolutionary war
was half over. During all the prelim-
mary struggle and during the three
years of carnage his was name to
coniure with, and no man was Drawer,
no man truer, to the American flag
than he. We find the same apparent
incongruity in the character of Cath
crime the Great of Russia. whom his
tory regards as one of the greatest
and wisest rulers Russia ever had, al
though her own heart was q selfish
heart of stone and her evil domestic
life the symbol of all that is base and
impure.
Study the life of Napoleon Bona
partc. Who will say that even his
cruel, selfish life was not used by God
de Stael denounced his inhumanitIes in
these words: Far from gaining assur-
ance in meeting BOnaparte oftener. he
inundated me daily more and more.
l confnsedly felt that no emotion Of
the heart could possibly take effect up
on him. He looks upon human being
as a fact or as n thing. but not as a
fellow creature. He does not hate any
more than he loves. There is nothing
for him but himself. All other beings
are so many ciphers. The force of his
will lies in the inpertnrbable calcu!a-
/ ton of his seilishness" And yet this
man. thus characterized by the far
S.ir pn1, oh
/ monster. this human Frankenstein, who
! conquered and betrayed millions OF
homes with no more compunction tAan
a cook would break a few eggs to
make an omelet for breakfast. was the
man who stopped the horrors of the
French revolution and demolished the
= puillOtine with one stroke Of his sword.
/ Dare we state that God does not at
times use even the sins OF his Jehus
for good purpose?
( In your life and mine we may be do
ing good in way. We may be helping
some men. We may be giving employ
mcnt to the poor. We may be kind to
some people. But good deed here
and there does not make us children Of
/ God. .Iehu was able to avenge the
I death of Naboth. In the rumbling Of
/ his chariot wheels we can see the tall,
/ gaunt form Of Elijah the Tishbite
bending over Il bleeding corpse and
pointing his condemning finger at the
cringing and covering king and queen
while he says, "Thus saith the Lord,
In the place where dogs licked the
blood of Naboth shall dogs lick thy
bloOd-even thine" And Of Jezebel
also spake the Lord. saying, "The dogs
shall cat Jezebel by the wall Of Jez-
reel" But because Jehu was COM
missioned to fulfill Elljahs prophecy
that did not make Jehu child of
God. Do not deceive yourselves. Not
all Gods instruments are his children.
Wicked men, to serve their own in
terests, may do things which fulfill
Gods purposes, but he does not re-
ward them by making them his chill
dren. Let no man think that he is
necessarily child Of God because he
has done him service. Jehu executed
vengeance on Ahab, hut he was a muir
derer.
A Bad Mans Usefulness.
We can find helpful lessons from a
bad mans life as well as from the life
of good man. Thus today, as we see
the revolving wheels Of Jehus chariot
rushing on toward Jezreel. we learn