The weekly chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Craig County, Okla.) 1905-1913, 1912-02-16

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and inst before taxing his last breath,
y sid 70 his valet -Adlea. ny dear
lIorzrd- I an gone- He went through
ihe farce q the last sacrament Of the
cstAolBc eAurch n order % secure z
burial spot in the ceueteTy Where he
wished his dust u rspose
TIE priests that administered the
sacrament knew that It vas farce
and Ehat L vas for. and later the
priest received a menaelng letter from
ne bishop ordering thai Voltaire's
body Be not allowed z little earth for
charity But it was too late. as Vol
taires body had already been laid
aEay. 70 be later resuFrected By ma
tion and received into the French
Pantheon Elth the acclaim OF the
whole French people.
Toltaire's writings number some 45
volumes and l would suggest TO Cap
tain White that he secure Colume
and and read The White Bull. and
The Atheist and the Sage, also
.Zadig. or The Mystery Of Fate" be-
fore he again repeats the foolish and
bzseIess charges Of the church Vol
taire viii be reTered and loved when
all Of his calumni2tOrs will be dust
and vermin. His personality was gem
ial and he was touched with human
sympathy, and it vas OF him that Vic
tor Hugo said:
Between two servants Of Humanity,
who appeared eighteen hundred years
apart. there is a mysterious relation.
Let US say il with sentiment
Of profound respect: JESUS WEPT;
lYOLTAIRE SMILED. OF that divine
tear and of that human smile is CON-
posed the sweetness OF the present
civilization
Now as TO the charge against
Thomas Paine. that he died bloated
and drunken sot and begged in his dy-
ing hours for mercy This falsehood
has been so often repeated by the
clergy and their dupes that it is pos
sible that some Of them actually be-
| lieYe it. Like the punishment meted
out to the liar. that he finally concludes
that his lies are true. the church has
finally concluded that this story is
true.
This deathbed story OF Paine was re-
futed by Col. Robert G. Ingersoll, in
l1s77, and in controversy with a
presbyterian religious periodical The
New York Observer, he forced the pa
per to publish this retraction over
the editors signature. The issue of
November /, 1877:
We have never stated in any form
nor have we ever supposed that Paine
actually renounced his infidelity. The
accounts agree in stating that he died
a disappearing infidel."
This paper mentioned, the New York
Observer had made the charge that
Paine died begging for mercy, and the
paragraph just mentioned was the re-
traction that the editor published after
Bob had driven him to the wall This
presbyterian paper, this worshipper at
the shrine of Jno. Calvin, the muir
derer of Servetus, and Jno Knox, the
murderer of Geo. Wishert. could see
no reason why that Paine, who hadn't
murdered anyone, would be allowed
by the Presbyterian God to have a
peaceable death. and SO the charges
that Captain White has so glibly quot
ed were sent out to the world The
paper, however, had the honesty to re
traet when the facts were shown and
Col. Ingersoll never let an opportunity
pass in the 30 years Of his life as pub
llic speaker to call attention of the
public to the life and public services
of Thomas Paine.
Paine was the author of three politi
cal works, either of which would have
made him place in the Pantheon OF
any country, had he not written as his
crowning achievement, The Age OF
Reason" No churehman objects &c
Common Sense" The Rights Of
Man" or tine Crisis" but as soon as
tha age of Reason is mentioned. the