Morning appeal. [volume] (Carson City, Nev.) 1877-1906, 1879-03-19
THE OTHER LIFE.

Hon. Thomas Fitch lectured at Dashaway
Hail, San Francisco, on The Other Life
and in answer to Colonel Bob Ingersoll. Mr..
Fitch having been introduced by President
E. T. Batturs, after prolonged applause, said
he professed adhesion to no religious sect, and
expected no church to be responsible for his
utterances The presumption was decidedly
against his being i'll any way In the Lord
service, for he was lawyer, and lawyers are
popularity credited with allegiance to a patron
saint nameless in that hall on that occasion.
He was not by profession, and he feared In
sufficiently by practice, a Christian, and If he
succeeded in striking blow in defense of the
fortress of Christianity it would be the blow
of a volunteer The churches which had
struck at that gifted rebel against Christianity
had been hampered by their theological rules.
Hebelieved Ingersoll had not yet been replied
to by one not protesting to belong to any
church, as he himself did, although he devout-
ly believed that it was not "all of life tORlve
nor all of death to die" He left the Chris
tian hocks to the care of their shepherds. He
spoke TO 'those outside of the churches, those
who know little of technical theology, those
who worship at no stated times nor at any
designated temples, to those who patronize
no particular religion, to those who attend
dances and theaters and horse races; to that
honest, earnest, progressive world which re-
spects generally that splendid system of the
ology that for countless centuries has held
sloft, to q constantly perfecting civilization,
the radiant Hambeau which has lit it on It's
way" 1t is to that world, which thinks if
die shall live again" that give the sin
ner's reply to the infdeL There is an old
book which says Judge of the tree by its
fruits" The inspiration of the book may be
i ID h..kf h0 ~ fhn I'M
must be admitted. By any reasonable meas
ure of values there is not religion that ever
was believed in but it was infinitely better for
the world than no religion at all, infinitely
preferable to the cold and pulseless nonbelief
Of the materialists.
This much says Thomas and good deal be-
sides, mostly in his highly humorous vein.
For example, in discussing the materislistic
notion he draws the following osricature:
According to the theory of the materialists,
if pound of -four is put into a Shakespeare
the result will be tragedy, in Napoleon,
victory, in Dick Turpln a ride on Black
Bsss, and in an ingersoll lecture on ghosts.
We are wax works, and mutton chop is the
crank pin that winds us up. The lover says
to his Matilda, 81 love you. If you will be
my bride life will be one long dream of hap
piness." She Immediately recognizes the cut
let of calf he had eaten for breakfast as the
food force of the sentiment, and Immediately
making draft on the Spring chicken which
she had eaten she coos the reply: Claude,
me- adored one, am theeine.
Now, Tom Fitch knows as much about the
true inwardness of religious systems as Henry
Ward Beecher knows about the merits of the
Chinese question. If he imagines that he
can impair the argument of Bob Ingersell, or
rather the argument of really great intellects
such as Tom Paine, of whose works he does
nothing more than make a popular and bonn
bastic psraphrase, he is greatly deceived But
he Is not deceived. He knows IS well as
anybody that in his lecture he did not even
touch upon the true premises OF infdels,
deists, or atheists. He is an artist in gossamer
word work. He knows his sphere and you
never catch him outside of it, In so far he is
, genius