_Question_. Do you fear the final triumph of infi- delity? _Answer_. No. We have no fear. We believe that the Bible can be revised often enough to agree with anything that may really be necessary to the preservation of the church. We can always rely upon revision. Let me tell you that the Bible is the most peculiar of books. At the time God inspired his holy prophets to write it, he knew exactly what the discoveries and demonstrations of the future would be, and he wrote his Bible in such a way that the words could always be interpreted in accordance with the intelligence of each age, and so that the words used are capable of several meanings, so that, no matter what may hereafter be discovered, the Bible 443 will be found to agree with it,--for the reason that the knowledge of Hebrew will grow in the exact proportion that discoveries are made in other depart- ments of knowledge. You will therefore see, that all efforts of infidelity to destroy the Bible will simply result in giving a better translation. _Question_. What do you consider is the strongest argument in favor of the inspiration of the Scrip- tures? _Answer_. The dying words of Christians. _Question_. What do you consider the strongest argument against the truth of infidelity? _Answer_. The dying words of infidels. You know how terrible were the death-bed scenes of Hume, Voltaire, Paine and Hobbes, as described by hundreds of persons who were not present; while all Christians have died with the utmost serenity, and with their last words have testified to the sustaining power of faith in the goodness of God. _Question_. What were the last words of Jesus Christ? _Answer_. "My God, my God, why hast thou for- "saken me?" A VINDICATION OF THOMAS PAINE. _"To argue with a man who has renounced the use and authority of reason, is like administering medicine to the dead."--Thomas Paine._ Peoria, October 8, 1877. To the Editor of the N Y. Observer: Sir: Last June in San Francisco, I offered a thousand dollars in gold--not as a wager, but as a gift--to any one who would substantiate the absurd story that Thomas Paine died in agony and fear, frightened by the clanking chains of devils. I also offered the same amount to any minister who would prove that Voltaire did not pass away as serenely as the coming of the dawn. Afterward I was informed that you had accepted the offer, and had called upon me to deposit the money. Acting upon this inform- ation, I sent you the following letter: Peoria, Ill., August 31st, 1877. To the Editor of the New York Observer: I have been informed that you accepted, in your paper, an offer made by me to any clergyman in San Francisco. That offer was, that I would pay 448 one thousand dollars in gold to any minister in that city who would prove that Thomas Paine died in terror because of religious opinions he had ex- pressed, or that Voltaire did not pass away serenely as the coming of the dawn.