The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1907-04-28


that has occurred in the last few hundred
years. / showed. or endeavored to snow
that anciently the style OF preaching was
what I denominated the Hell IRE ana
damnation" style. 1t may be interesting
to notice the ideas Of he'll which pre-
vailed In these days. Dante's Diyina Com
media was the description OF visionary
journey through the three realms OF
future existence. and though he allows
his conductor TO be a pagan, the scenes
are those OF monkish Imagination Wis
Ions real or invented were the usual
vehicles for religious instruction in those
DAYS
This mode was not new TO Dante, It
was used ia the Fablaux Of the gong
leurs or Procencal bards before the days
of Dante The entire work Of Dante IS
gothic; it is a picture Of his times OF
his own ideas ana OF the people about
him. and he said in letter. 4 found
the original Of my hell in the world which
We inhabit"
In 0ldham's "Satlres upon the Jesuits. -
commenting on the many writer's follow
ing in the footsteps Of Dante. and de-
seribing he'll he says:
One undertakes. hy scales Il miles. 70 ten
The bounds, dimensions, and extent u hell
How many German leagues that realm contains,
How many chsldrons hell sacf scar e1pends.
In Goals. Tor roasting Huguenots and friends
Another fFighgs the Fout with useful stories
OF Wild chimeras limbos, pufgat0ries.
Where bloated souls la smoky durance hung,
Like a Whestpzlia CANNON q meats tongue
To be redeemed with masses and a song.
Ttarlfv,F TnetrfF xvpoFa
treatise on purgatory. in which he informs
US that there are beneath the earth four
different places. The deepest of these is
hell, and it contains all the souls Of the
damned, where win be also their bodies
after the resurrection. and likewise all
the demons. The place nearest he'll is
purgatory. where souls are purged or
where they aFpease the anger Of God
by their suffeIings. The same fires and
torments are alike in both these places,
the only difference between he'll and pur-
gatory consisting in their duration. next
TO purgatory Is the limbo Of those infants
who died without receiving the sacra-
ment. and the fourth place is the limbo
OF The fathers. thar is, Of just men who
died before the death of Christ. But
since the days Of the Redeemer, this last
division is empty.
The word he'll is thought TO be derived
from halla or valhalla the abode Of
death as thought by northern nations. As
IN the same sense that Christ descended
into hell. il means hades or the region
Of the dead il Is usually referred to as
the place Of the devil and wicked souls
or spirits after death. The usual def
milton given by Christians Is the place
OF punishment or The wicked after the
general Judgment. as opposed TO Heaven,
the place of the reward Of righteous.
The devil is mentioned as the tempter
and spintualten Of mankind. and the
chief Of the apostate angels-and is re-
ferged to IN the books OF both the Old
and New Testaments under the various
names Of Satan, Lucifer. Belial. ApoIyon.
and Abaddon, and the man Of sin. and
the adversary
Milton describes hell as
A dungeon horrible. On al sides round
As Gle uEgt furnace famed set from those flames
Ne light hst rather darkness visible
Served ouly 10 discover sights of woe
Regions e s1sruw, doldul shades where peacs
And rest can never ZEN, hops never comes
That comes % al. b1t texture without end
Such are descriptions OF hell given by
our ancestors.
There is doctrine called metempsy-
Ghosts, or the transmission of souls, which
was once widely prevalent. and It con
tinues in the present day among many
peoples who have not embraced Christi
anity This doctrine was prevalent in
Greece before the time Of Pythagoras.
II was taught by the Egyptian priests.
The doctrine followed the belief in the
Immortality OF the soul The he'll taught
by this sect is described by Plutarch Ia
his treatise on The Delay of Heavenly
Justice Thespius saw the souls of those
who were condemned TO return TO life.
and whom they violently forced 20 take
forms OF all kind Of animals The
laborers charged with this translo@ma-
ton forged with instruments certain
parts, others q new form. and made
some totally disappear, that these souls
might be rendered proper for another
kind OF life and other habits. Among
these, he perceived the soul of Nero.
which had already suffered long tovments,
and which stuck 20 the body by nails
red from the fire. The WoTkmen seized
on him 90 make a viper. under which
form he was now 10 live. after having
devOured the breast thai had carried him.
on the whole. hell is a place OF punish
ment described with more or less dis
Effectiveness In nearly all ethnic forms Of
religions. the nature Of the punishment
varying widely Three definite stages in
the concept of hell may be traced; first.
a vague notion Of a future life to be
spent in misery, with little or no idea
of moral retributiOn. second. il ranks as
a place Of torment for those who have
offended the gods, but is conceived as
! limited in duration. and third. il becomes
an important factor in the moral govern
ment of the universe, a place where evil
deeds done in life are vigorously pun
ished.
/ After all, religion may regulate the life
/ of him 20 whom all these theories OF
/ punishment are unknown, and the assert
! ors Of fate and free will, however differ
/ ent in sheir talk, will agree TO act in the
same manner. Every man is Obliged
| by the Creator to improve all the oppor-
tunities OF good which are afforded him
4 and 10 keep in continual activity such
abilities as are bestowed upon him. He
need not repine though his abilities be
small or his opportunities few, If he
/ has used his endeavors to advance the
/ happiness Of his feIlow-creatures, anC
/ kept his life pure, he need not fear any
/ of the bells which have been described.
| why the Actor Was Sore,
/ From the San Francisco Argonaut.
! An actor without funds managed il
some way to get a second-class ticket OF
]