Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1878-03-20
lngersOll on Ghosts,

hOfiOf hAh beeh ollltttH, ho lhINlhy
has been left undone by believers In
ghosts, aud oil the shadows were
born OF cowardiee and mallgnlty /
they were painted by the pencil OF
fear upon the canvass OF ignorance by
that artist called Superstition, From
these ghosts our fathers received their
information. These ghosts were the
schoolmastcrs Of our ancestors, They
were the scientists, the phlloscpl crs,
the geologiSts, the Legislators, the
astronomers, the physicians, the meta
physicians and historians OF the past
Let me give you my definition Of
metaphysics, that is to say, the science
OF The unknown, the science Of guess
ing, Metaphysics is where two fools
get together and each one admits
what neither can prove, and both say,
"heuce we inter-" That is the sci
enee OF metaphysics, Prolonged
laughter. For this these ghosts
were supposed to have the only ex'
pericnce aud real knowledge they
inspired men 20 write books, and the
books were sacred. II facts were
found to be inconsistent with these
books, so much the worse for the facts
Qaughter), and especially Tor tho dis
coverers Of those facts. 1t was then
and still is believed that these sacred
books are the basis of the idea Of i'm
mortality, and that TO give up the
idea that these books were inspired is
to renouncc the idea Of immortal life.
| deny it Men existed before hooks !;
and all tho books that were ever writ
ten were written, in my judgment, by
men and the idea of Immortality was
not born of u book but was born Of
the man who wrote the book. The
idea Of Immortality, like the great sea.
has ebbed aud flowed in the human
heart, beating its countless waves of
hope and joy against the shores of
time, and was not born of any book,
nor Of any religion, nor of any creed |;
it was born of human affection, and ii
will continue to ebb and flow beneath
the clouds and misls Of doubt and
darkness as long rs love kisses the
lips of death. 1t Is the rainbow of
hope shining upon the tears OF grief.
We love, therefore we wish to live,
and the foundation of the idea of i'm.
mortality is human affection and hu'
man love, and | have a thousand times
more confidence in the affections OF
the human heart, in the deep aud
splendid feelings of the human SOU
than | have in any book that ever wos
or ever can be written by mortal man.
(Applause) From the books written
by those ghosts, we have at least as
certaiped that they knew nothing
whatever of the world in which We
live. Did they know any thing about
any other? Upon every point where
contradiction is possible, the ghosts
have been contradcted. BY these
ghosts, by these citizens OF the air, by
this aristocracy Of the clouds Qaugh-
ter) the affairs of government we've
administered all authority TO govern
came from them. The emperors,
kings and potentates, every one OF
them had the divine petroleum pour
ed upon his head, the kerosene OF
authority. Uaughter.) The emper-
ors, kings and potentates had com.
muncations from the phantoms. -
Man was not considered as the source
OF power to rebel against the king
was to rebel against the ghosts, and
nothing less than the blood Of the
offenders could appease the invisible
phantouls and by the authority of
the ghosts man was crushed and slay-
ed and plundered. Many toiled
YEARLY IN the sun and storm that a
few favorites of the ghosts might live
in idleness, and many lived in huts
and caves and dens that the few might
dwell in palaces, and many clothed
themselves with rags that a few might
robe themselves IN purple ana Soiu,
and many crept and cringed and
crawled, that a few might tread upon
their necks with feet of iron. From
the ghosts men received not only
authority but information. They told
us the form of this earth they in
formed US that eclipses we're caused
by the sins of man, especially the fail
ure to pay tilhes /; that the universe
was made in six days; thas gazing at
the sky with telescope was danger
Gus that trying to be wise beyond
what they had written was born of a