Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1878-04-03
lngersOll on He'll.

The following we extract from
Lecture on "llcll," by Col, II, {
lngcrsoll, delivered IN Boston recently
It strikes mo that what they call tn
"atoncment' is q kind of moral bank
ruptcy, Under its mcrciMl proyi'
ions, man Is allowed the privilege q
SHINING credit, and whenever he
guilty oi o mean action h0 says
"Chargc II, QLaughtcr,) In N.
judgement, this kind OF bookkeeping
breeds extravaganza in sin, Gap
plausc,) Suppose we had u law II
New York that every merchant shoulC
give credit TO every man who asked II
under pain Of tho pcnitcntiary, an(
that every man should take the bcno
iit of the bankruptcy statute ever,
Saturday night Doesn't the credit
system in morals breed extravaganza
in sm 7 That's the question. Who,
afraid of punishment which is so ial
away? Whom does the doctrine Of
hell stop I The great, the rich, the
powerful Noi the poor, the weak,
the dcspised, the mean. Did you
ever hear OF man gong to hell who
died in New York worth Il million OF
dollars, or with an income OF twenty.
five thousand n year? Did you ?
Did you ever hear OF man going TO
hell who rode in n carriagc7 Never
They are The gentlemen who talk
abou, their assets, and who say, "lIell
is not for me 1t is for the poor. |
have all the luxuries want give
that to the poor" daughter and
cheers.) Who goes to hell? Tramps!
(Laughter,)
Let me tell you n story. There
was once a fyightful rain, aud all the
animals held q convention TO see whose
fault it was, and the fox nominated
the lion for chairman. The wolf Sec
onded the motion, and the hyena said
that suits. When the convention was
called to order the fox was called upon
to confess his sins. He stated, how
ever, that it would be much more ap-
propriatc for the lion TO confess first.
Thercupon the lion said 81 am not
conscious of having committed evil.
1t is true | have devoured a few men,
but for what other purpose were men
made q And they all cheered and
were satisfied. The fox gave his
views upon the goose question, and
the wolf admitted that he had devour.
ed sheep and occasionally had killed n
shepherd shut all acquainted with the
history of my family will bear me ort
when ] say that shepherds have been
the enemies of my family from the be-
ginning Of the world" Then way in
the rear there rose n simple donkey,
with kind OF Abrahamic counte-
nance. He said IL expect it's me,
! had eaten nothing for three days ex-
oept three thistles. | was passing a.
monastery, the monks wee Il. mass
the gates were open leading to a yard
full of sweet clover. | knew it was
wrong, but did slip in and took a
mou!hful. but my conscience smote me
and | went ont, and all the animals
she's the fellow y and in two
they had his hide on the
tence. That's the kind OF people that
60 to hell. cloud laughter)
Now, this doctrine of hell that has
been such a comfort TO my race, which
SO many ministers are now pleading
tor, has been defended for ages by the
fathers of the church. Your preacher
says that the sovereignty of God i'm
plies sthat.H He has an absolute unlimited,
and independent right to dispose of
His creatures as He will, because He
made them. Has He? Suppose
axe this book and change 1t immedl-
ltely into Il servient human being.
Voald | have the right to torture it
because made it q? No; on the con-
rary. would say, having brought
'ou into existence, it is my duty to do
he best for you | can. (Applause.)
They say God has right to damn me
'ecausc he made me. | deny it. An.
ther one says God is not obliged to
ave even those who believe in Christ,
nd that he can either bestow saliva
ion upon his children or retain it with :
ut any dilninution of His glory. An
ther one says, God may save any =,
inner whatsoever, consistently with
is justice. Let natural person-and
claim to he one--morol or. immoral, =
Use or unwise, let him he as just as 7.
e cau,. no matter what bis prayers may