THEROIGNE DE MERICOURT was the daughter of a French peasant, and was born about 1762.
She became one of the celebrities of the terrible first Revolution in France—a Revolution which involved the massacre of over a million human beings, from the King to the lowest in his realm. Theroigne figured variously amid these scenes of carnage: she was a public singer, a democratic speaker, a prisoner, a martyr, and was finally exhibited as “the Goddess of Reason.” Then in 1793, when others obtained the ascendency, she was publicly flogged, and at last went mad. For twenty years she was confined in an asylum. Think of it! The woman who had posed as the Goddess of Reason was bereft of reason. This is the government of God. It is said that during her lucid intervals she used to repent, and to utter heart-rending lamentations. If this be true, we may be sure they were not uttered in vain: “Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Such a woman may well be forgotten, you will say; but, incredible as it may appear, her story has been woven into a play which is now being produced at a French theater to interest and delight a pleasure-loving people. Could anything show more plainly the true character of the world and of these last days? “Men shall be... despisers of those that are good... lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God... of corrupt minds.”
Do not say, This has only occurred in Paris; alas! in London, kindred or worse plays are acted, and few bow the head in shame.
Theroigne’s life was anti-Christian and an open shame, she was an unbeliever in the Bible, and so became a moral wreck floating over the ocean of licentious sin and folly, without chart or compass.
We must make our choice, reader. When the Saviour was brought before Pilate, he asked “What shall I do then with Jesus, which is called Christ?” Let us repeat it, What will you do with Jesus? If you choose Him as your Saviour and seek to follow Him, you cannot have the world too; if you elect the world, you cannot have Him. “No man can serve two masters” (it does not say, would not like to).
You see what the world is coming to—iniquity and profanity are dressed up by the devil, and turned into an enthralling amusement, and the end of these things is death.
“Choose ye this day whom ye will serve.”
Christian, you who have chosen Christ, or been chosen of God, go a step further; learn that the cross of Christ has made a gulf between you and “this present evil world” (Gal. 1:44Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father: (Galatians 1:4)).
“Thy cross has severed ties which bound us here,
Thyself our treasure in a brighter sphere.”
And you who are still of the world—what is it all leading to? How will it all end? Is there a God? You cannot in your senses deny it. You would need to deliberately silence the voice of reason, let alone that of conscience, to deny the existence of God. But if there is a God, can He tolerate sin in His holy presence? And what must the end be of those who live their lives in utter disregard of Him and all His claims?
But, thank God! there, is a Saviour too. A holy, spotless Man, who gave His life a sacrifice for guilty sinners. He was God as well as Man, and thus His death has an infinite value. You may be saved and forgiven if you simply put your soul’s trust in Him and His finished work.
A. H. B.
Have you started on the heavenly journey? You cannot reasonably expect to reach heaven at last unless you start on the road that leads to heaven.
How many thousands have passed into eternity during the year that has just fled! How many thousands now alive and well will be laid in their graves before this New Year has expired! The reader may be one of the number, and therefore we beseech of him or her to start at once. But what is the road? The answer is plain―