Fayette County herald. [volume] (Washington [Washington Court House], Fayette County, O. [Ohio]) 1860-1???, 1879-08-14
Robert G. IngersOITs Estimate OF q
Christian Divine.
Upon the grave of the late Rev. Ale

Upon the grave of the late Rev. Alex
ander Clark L wish to place one flower.
Utterly destitute of cold dogmatic pride
that often passes for the love of God, with
out the arrogance of the F'elect''-simply,
free and kind-this earnest man made .
me his friend by being mine. I forgot
that he was Christian, and he seemed to
forget that | was not, while each remem-
bered that the other was a man.
Frank, candid and sincere, he practic-
ed what he preached, and looked with
the holy eyes of charity upon the failings
and mistakes Ofmen. He believed in the
power of kindness, and spanned with
divine sympathy the hideous gulf that
separates the fallen from the pure.
Giving freely to others the rights that
he claimed for himself, it never occurred
to him that his God hated a brave and
honest unbeliever. He remembered that
even an infidel has rights that love re-
spect; that hatred has no saving power,
and that in order to be Christian it is
not necessary to become less than a man.
He knew that no one can be maligned in
to kindness; that epithets cannot con-
vince; that curses are not arguments,
and that the finger of scorn never points
toward heaven. With the generosity OF
an honest man, he accorded to all the
fullest liberty of thought, knowing, as he
did, thatin the realm of mind chain Is
| but a curse.
est respect. In spite of the taunts and
| ieers of his brethren, he publicly pro-
claimed that he would treat infidels with
| fairness and respect; that he would en-
deavor to convince them by argument
and win them with love. He insisted that
the God he worshiped loved the will-be-
ing even of an atheist. In this grand
position he stood almost alone. Tender.
! just and loving where others were harsh,
| vindictive and cruel, he challenged the
| respect and admiration of every honest
man. A few more such clergymen might
| drive calumny from the lips of faith and
render the pulpit worthy of respect.
The heartiness and kindness with which
| this generous man treated me can never
| be eXcelled. He admitted that had not
lost and could not lose single right by
the expression of nv honest thought
1 Neither did he believe that a servant
could win the respect of a generous mas-
ter by prosecuting and maligning those
whom the master would willingly Tor
give.
While the good man was living, ms
brethren blamed him for having treated
me with fairness. But, | trust, now that
he has left the shore touched by the myS-
| terious sea that never yet has borne on any
| wave the image of a homeward sail, this
crime will be forgiven him by those who
, still remain to preach the love OF Ged:
, | His Svmpathies were not confined With
in the nrison of creed, but ran out and
over the walls like vines, hiding the cruel
! | rocks and rusted bars with leaf and
lower. He could hot echo with his heart
the fiendish sentence of eternal nre. In
= spite of book and creed, he read between
| the lines'' the words of tenderness and
E love, with promises for all the world
t Above, beyond the dogmas of his church
l humane even to the verge of heresy-
: causing some to doubt his love of God be
cause he failed to hate his unDeileVlns
fellow men, he labOred for the welfare oi
+ mankind, and to his work gave up hi
o | life with all his heart.
ROBERT @. INGERsoI.L.
WASHINGTON, d. c., July II, 1879.