.ttm; 'elp;jKr,YffW,W'f,lV,a,
THECOUKJER
9
"Tf
f'
A
ir
A
.f
suicide; that in old times they buried him whero the roads crossed,
and drove a stake through his body. They took his property from
his children and gave it to the state. If Christians would only
think they would see that orthodox religion rests upon suicide
that man was redeemed by suicide, and that without suicide the
whole world would havo been lost. If Christ wore 'God,' then ho
had the powei to protect Himself from the Jews without hurting
them. But instead of using His power He allowed them to tako
His life. If a strong man should allow a fow little children to hack
him to death with Knives when ho could easily have brushed them
aside, would we not say thathe committed suicide? There is no escape.
If Christ were, in fact, 'God' and allowed the Jews to kill Him, then
He consented to his own death refused, though perfectly able, to
defend and protect Himself, and was in fact a suicide. We cannot
reform the world by law or superstition. As long as there shall bo
pain and failure, want and sorrow, agony and rrime, men and women
will untie life's knot and seek the peace of death. To tho hope
lessly imprisoned to the dishonored and despised to those who
have failed, who have no future, no hope to the abandonded, tho
broken-hearted, to thoso who are only remnants and fragments of
men and women how consoling, how enchanting is the thought of
death! And even to the most fortunate, death at las is a w elcome
deliverer. Death is as natural and merciful as life. When we have
journeyed long when we are weary when wo wish for the twilight,
for the dusk, for the cool kisses of the night when the senses are
dull when the pulse is faint and low when tho mists gather on
the mirrow of memory when the past is almost forgotten, the
present hardly perceived when the future has but empty hands
death is as welcome as a strain of music. After all, death is not so
terrible as joyless life. Next to eternal happiness is to sleep in the
soft clasp of the cool earth, disturbed by no dream, by no thought,
by no pain, by no fear, unconscious of all and forever."
Of the many interesting replies to Ingersoll's article one of
the most striking is by "Xym Crinkle,' tho journalist, who
writes in a satirical vein. This writer says: "I suppose the usual
number of people will rise up to answer Ingersoll. I am told
that one of the chief occupations of men in the United States is
answering Ingersoll. But in Mr. Ingersoll's present impregna
ble position, no one but a fool would rush in to his own des
truction. He is literally and absolutely unanswerable. 'When
life,' he asks, 'is of no value to a man, and he is of no assis
tance to anybody, why should he not destroy himself?' This is
the keynote of a higher life. It touches tho fundamental right of
everybody, first, to be worthless, and then to get out. Such a clear
and noble perception of man's inalienable right, not only to des
troy himself, but to make the excuse first, puts Mr. Ingersoll among
the finest thinkers of our age. The old and absurd idea that we
were made with a purpose, and it was our duty to remain, has,' he
says, 'been outgrown.' How these clear-cut enunciations strike
at the very roots of our being! How they brush away the
modern cobwebs of sentiment and duty and let in tho clear light
upon the scientific fact that there wasn't any purpose and can't be
any duty. 'Why,' asks this master thinker, 'should the man who
commits a criroo stay to be punished and thus put his friends and,
family to distress when he can kill himself?' I havo not seen any
where, a deep, broad thought &o admirably put. Why should a
man who commits a crime not commit two? I await with equa
nimity an answer to that. It is true that religious fools will ask,
Why should a man commit a crime at all, and why provide an es
cape for him when he does? But that is the besotted reasoning
of tho insane orthodox mind. When wo havo succeeded, as wo as
suredly will in time, especially if this great teacher is spared to us,
in convincing mankind that life doesn't begin to be as luxurious as
the abnegation of it; that wet clay is more comfortabie than dry re
sponsibility; that any man can escape from toil, from taking care of
his own children, from supporting his wife or defending his home
by cutting his throat: when we have established this great truth,
then suicide will become tho great boon of that poor humanity who
prefers sleep to work. For death, as Colonel Ingersoll truly
observes, 'is liberty absolute and eternal' that is to say, liberty
from purpose, accountability, and penalties and it is from these
things that the soaring Ingersollian mind wishes to escape. Suicido
is the great corrector of all evils. It is the one privilege given to all
mortals through which they can crawl from the agony of doing
something to the dreamless felicity of being nothing. What eons of
agony tho world would havo been spared it this bad beon understood
at the start and tho raco had generously and generally availed itself
of it! Colonel Ingersoll is one of tho few men who see that great
great truth clearly. How many years of bitter disappointment
would havo been denied to that littlo girl who found that her doll
was stuffed with sawdust it instead of going to a convont she had
gone upstairs and taken a doso of arsenic. All this time sho would
havo been lying in tho loving embrace of the sweet subsoil instead of
fighting and suffering and learning tho vain lessons of misfortuno
and building up a supcrtlous character that must como to the, same
clay sooner or later! But this opens a new subject, namely,
tho beauty of suicide by children who aro unhappy
and of no use to anybody, and I lcavo the unworked
thought for tho able pen of tho eloquent old Colonel
Under tho magnetism of tho Colonel's splendid effort in behalf of
promiscuous self destruction I hesitate to let my feelings run away
with me. But, like all who havo been under his spell, I sco tho
heavens of a better era opening 'and tho time coming whon this
earth, burdened with a sad humanity, shall bo gladdened only by
graves, and if any wandering spirit visits tho redeemed planet he
will learn that tho race, having suspected tho superior valuo of the
dreamless sleep to tho working life, with ono accord cut its multi
tudinous throat and got square on destiny."
THE FAIRIES' CARNIVAL,.
Rehearsals for tho Fairies' Carnival to open at tho Funke next
Wednesday, havo been going actively forward for two weeks, and
Mr. Owen, tho projector of this enterprise, is confident that tho
spectacle will bo given with a precision nnd effectiveness not often
attained in productions of this sort. The three hundred children
havo entered heartily into the spirit of tho thing, and the rehearsals
give promise of a most excellent entertainment. The scenery and
costumes used in this production are particularly handsome, Tho
entertainment, which as previously announced, will bo given under
the auspices of the Women's Christian association, will have four
presentations, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday evenings with a
matinee on Saturday. Tho performance Wednesday evening will bo
tho informal opening of tho new Funko opera house. J. Edgar
Owen, the creator of this charming operetta, personally directs all
rehearsals and he seems to be in his clement; ho has had years of
experience in this kind of work and has brought the matter of tine
productions down to a system a science. He also appears in the
piece as Ugho, the ogre tho "Bogie Man" ot the play, and his great
size eminently tits him for the character. We could go on describing
the many charming features of the production to a great length, but
lack of space forbids saying much more Tho Women's Christian
association, under whose auspices it is to be given, are to bo congrat
ulated on securing so beautiful an entertainment for their benefit.
It is a light, airy creation well suited to this season of tho year and
all who attend will feel well repaid. It is unquestionably tho most
elaborate juvenile entertainment ever given in Lincoln: And what
of the new Funke that Manager Frank C. Zehrung seemj so proud
of? Well, he has reason to be proud of his beautiful theatre. The
big audiences that aro sure to attend the opening and subsequent
performances will be delighted with all that they see. Tho decora
tions are in perfest taste; tho arrangement of the house is vastly
superior to the old one, and no pains havo been spared to give
Lincoln a superior temple of amusement. Upon tho occasion of the,
informal opening the house will be beautifully decorated in palms
flowers etc., and Wedneeday, Thursday and Friday evenings of the
coming week will be gala nights, not forgetting the matnee Satur
day afternoon. The sale of seats will commence Monday morning
at 10 o'clock at Gerurg's drug store, and you are advised to be on
hand in good season if you wish desirable locations. Wo under
stand that several theater parties aro being made up and will
occupy the many new boxes wiih which the house has been pro
vided. These boxes hold six persons each and are tho choicest
seats in tho house.
Malaria and Scrofula.
I was all run down with malaria and scrofula and only weighed
103 pounds. Seeing Hood's Sarsaparilla advertised I "thought I
would try a bottle It helped me so much that I took six bottles
and I feel entirely well. Miss Carrie Shark, 403 North 2G Street,
Lincoln, Nebraska.
Hood's Fills cure all liver ills, biliousness, jaundice, indigestion,
sick headache, 23 cents.
0hiiiJtaKx
4lt. 4-. JTM
'..
mLo-.' "l '" III ffTJtaiffllilf II AZjL.,
