I pity the man whose soul is so small that he cannot rise above the level of his creed to do justice to those whose religious opinions have not been gauged by his particular standard. I am no Christian, but may I never become so ungrateful as to ignore my obligations to those who are. When war was desolating our fair land, and my young heart yearned to enlist in its defense, a Christian mother printed a kiss upon the cheek of her only boy and bade him go; Christian hands made the grand old flag we followed; Christian women visited our hospitals, ministering to the sick and wiping the death-damp from the brows of the dying; Christian generals led their troops on many a hard-fought field; and tonight the stately oak, the drooping willow, and the moaning pine stand sentinel by many a Christian soldier's grave. But they are not alone. Beside his Christian comrade--beneath the shadows of the same trees--a martyr to the same cause--sleeps the unbeliever. And would you strew with flowers and moisten with tears the grave that enfolds the one, and trample with scorn the turf that grows upon the other? Side by side they grandly marched to war; side by side they bravely fought; side by side heroically they fell; and in the murmuring stream that, wanders by their resting-place is heard the funeral chant of no religious creed, but nature's eternal sweet, sad requiem to all. Go to the grave of Thomas Paine, my Christian friend. Stand beside the tomb where rest the ashes of this unappreciated genius. Take up his little volume "Common Sense." Open its pages and peruse its burning words. When done, unfold the map upon which are delineated "The Free and Independent States of America." Contemplate the inspiring picture wrought thereon--wrought by the author-hero's magic pen--then refuse the simple tribute of a tear or flower! Who is responsible for the obloquy that has been cast upon the memory of this noble man? The church, the orthodox church alone, is responsible for it. And let me say to the church, it ill becomes you to point to the alleged moral delinquencies of this man while your own garments are soiled and crimsoned with the vice and crime of centuries. You claim that amid the thunders of Sinai God gave the Decalogue as a moral guide to man. Judged even by this standard the moral character of Thomas Paine will not suffer from a comparison with that of yours. "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." "I believe in one God and no more," said Thomas Paine. "Thou shalt worship no graven image." No worshiper of images was he. "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain." He abstained from profanity himself and rebuked it in others. "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy." He observed this law as faithfully as did his Christian neighbors. "Honor thy father and thy mother." His parents were the objects of his reverence and love. "Thou shalt not kill." He did not kill. He labored to abolish war and murder.