Nebraska advertiser., 1878-06-06
Written for TIE ADVERTISER.
knowledge and Belief.
Publishers Advertiser.

positive knowledge In the world"
This is true; and we'll would 1t be fol
people If they acted consistend with
this truth. But quite the contrary Is
the fact. People talk, and talk, as il
ali the mysteries of creation-all the
great problems of life, were solved
They talk flippantly about the destiny
Of souls, as If they had the prerogative
of weighing action, and passing sen.
tence on the final destiny of the spirit
Man, In his present moral and in
tellectual status, knows but little OF
causes he is dealing with effects.
He sees phenOmana, without know
ing the hidden forces which produce
them. So 1t Is utter folly to talk OF
ultimates any farther than this-that
they must be for the best possible good
Of the thing or being created.
The skeptic is in the best condition
of mind to become wise of any class
of men we find. This mental condi-
ton Is well expressed by Byron,
81 believe nothing, nothing deny"
No positive ranting about questions
not decided no denying the conclu-
sIOns reached by others; not enoum-
bered with prejudice, bias, conceit,
egotism, dogmatism, and all such rub
bisb, which crowd out beautiful, lof-
ty, and comprehensive thought and
sacred Inspirations. Let the skeptic
go on, and by-and-hy he will exolaim
MY Lord and My God W and will
reach the moral elevations of a mag
nificent soul.
The "believer In dogmas," who
thinks be holds the key which un.
locks all the wisdom In heaven and
earth, is hopelessly lost" and would
wander on forever In the darkness of
his bewildered mind, if some Christ
did not reach him, In the wilderness
where be Is with the swine, eating
the husks with them, and "he comes
to himself" and goes to the Fathers
house, where there Is bread enough
and TO spare.
Now, this Goddess of Reason" has
led men into many foIIies. What Is
the boasted reason after all? It is not
as reliable and trustworthy as instinct
in the animal. 1t is just this, and
no more. 1t Is conclusions drawn
from observations. Different minds
will draw different differences, from
the same points. Reasoning may
reach conclusions which are true. as
they may be false. Reason, therefore,
is merely belief, and cannot be relied
upon as source of gaining absolute
knowledge.
Instinct-the faculty or capacity of
the spirit to take cOgnizance of facts
from the fountains of truth, without
the clrcuitous road of reasoning-is
the only way of gaining positive
knowledge. You may call intuition
inspiration if you please, and perhaps
you will not be far out of the way. It |
is the difference between intuition and |
reason which makes the difference
between genius and talent. Talent
skins about in the misty atmosphere
of reason, while genius scars up to |
the illumined heavens of inspired |
thought.
1t was In this realm of reason /
Thomas Paine was lost, he could not
look into the spiritual; and be, like
many of his day and thousands ofthe
present time, said, because he could
not see into world of spirits, others
could not. This was his weakness,
and his loss, too, as il is misfortune
to all, like him, who have their spir.
itual faculties darkened. Paine was
q mighty soul, marching grandly
through the realms of intellect and
morals, with vision closed to the spir-
itual. But that is no reason why pig
mics should throw dirt at this giant.
That gives no just cause why he
should be mlsrepresented, and the
tribute which belongs to noble deeds
be withheld from him, which is the
case. But 1.-The mills of God grind |
slow but sure" The angel is flying
through the heavens, with the proc
lamation from the Judge, "Lo! /
come quickly; and my reward is with
me, to give every man according to
his works."
1t is too much reason, is what is the
matter with Mr.. Ingersoll. He has a
great sympathetic heart, exquisite re-
hnement of sentiment, great delicaoy
of thought-but he cannot accept the
testimony of the ghosts" as the
I can. 1 believe, with
the old-time record, that there are
Lying spirits" 1 know, too, that
there are lying men and women. So,
upon the whole, would sooner be-
lieve the GHOSTS" than the people in
"the flesh" Yet I would consider
myself sunken very low In the scale
of intelligence and morals, to misrep-
resent. undervalne, and underrate.
Mr.. Ingersoll for his fault. or rather