The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1879-04-09


fish two rather remarkable sermons dc
ltvered in that city the day before on II
gersOll, by two oftheir most noted diyinel
ev.David swingand Rev. Brooke Heriort
The more noteworthy Of the two is that c
Rev. Swing. He takes the ground tina
such man as Bob IngersoIl has his use
for the good Of the church in this day an,
generation the same as Pascal had In tn
18th century and voltaire in the 1stl
century, in the way Of eliminating abuse
and errors from an intelligent faith. W,
make the following quotation from his dis
course:
"0f the hopelessness Of reform by mean
Of craftsmanship only, the Roman Churcl
stands before US as striking example
For hundreds OF years 1t heard almost con
tlnuonsly some gentle voice OF complain
or correctlon-voices reaching from Dant,
70 Savonarola, and from Savonarola Il
Fenelon and Pascal but while these plead
ing ones exerted great influence the,
needed additional support. Dante sani
powerfully, but the case was partially be
Yond the reach OF song, and Sayonarolf
plead eloquently, butthere were chamber
In the Papal soul which his voice coulc
not reach, and then came Fenelon, bring
ing a reproof of love, and came Pascal
bringing an. acute wit and waking up 1
hundred.year laugh over Roman absurd
ties, but as all these powerful ones
stood within the Church their opposi
ton was so softened by friendship
that It did nothing more than slightly
modify despotIsm which demanded an
overthrow by less kind intellects. To
the good which these children OF the
Church achieved must be added, there,
fore, the harder blows struck by VOltatre
half century later. Reared among Inc
Jesuits, be utterly abandoned their faith,
and as a Deist he assailed all tho veal
places in the Roman argument, and made
the wit and laughter, which had begun
under Pascal, rise TO such height, that
the subject Of the wit and laughter never
recovered, or even rallied. The argument
which had moved along gently but pro,
titably under the lead OF Dante and Pas.
cal, arose in awful power under Voltaire
and Diderot, and Hume and Volney. The
breeze turned into hurricane on the In.
fidel coast.
That mysterious power which we call
the Providence OF God has invariably in
its dealings with mankind followed that
philosophy taught US in the fable when
we were young. Nature has always tried
first kind means teaching or furnishing
She throws tufts OF grass at first, but Il
these are laughed at she throws stones
with vengeance. When the young man
drinks to excess for the first time Nature
deals with him kindly. A headache
comes. But il the young man laughs al
these reproofs and goes onward in bis vice
then this once kind master reaches out a
red right arm and the mans fortune fades,
his name is blasted, bis friends disown
him, his house falls TO ruin, his eye glares
like that Of wild beast, his body trenbles,
IL dies, and Hell receives It's well.fitted
guest. There is one law for an indi.
vidual, or State, or a church. For gen.
erations patient Providence uses gentle
means and II the State or the Church does
not reform Itself this just God rises in
wrath and hurlS armies at tho stubborn
offenders, or commands the infidels Ia
rush in and wake up the priests stupid
with a long carousal, or in the compOsure
OF ignorance and conceit. Thus Nature
flung the in6dels against the French re.
ligion and the Communists against the
awful despotism Of the French throne.
Must one justify, therefore, the inldel OF
the Communist? BY no means In full
but in part we must forgive men whose
extreme views have been created by ex,
treme wrongs, whose derisive laughter
has been largely created by the almost
endless absurdity Of the institution ovel
which the laugh sounds. And further,
more we are not TO seek always the virtue
OF the actor, but som, times We may seeA
the virtue OF results.
You may wonder what can be meant by
Mr.. Ingcrsoll's truth. Well, the real fac
is that he has set forth in his address
many valuable ideas. 1t is true they arr
all found in the Christian religion, but
they have not been made sufficiently
prominent by the church itself. In the
very midst OF the infdel's laughter there
may often be seen doctrine OF Christian
ity set forth in wonderful distinctness, ioI
there is nothing so distinct as ridiCule
| III his l6CtuT6 CAlI6u hhu NOIua A0Ou
Gods Words" "he ridicules the idea O
being saved without having any persona
merit, and then says that II he were il
Heaven playing upon his harp, and shoulG
SEQ in the company gentleman whom HI
had cheated down on earth, his hanC
would abate Its music for little wAile.'
Here Is where the papers insert the wore
applause" but the truth Is this remarI
differs from a frequent pulpit utterancl
only by the use Of the word gentleman
The true religion Of Jesus makes no pro
vision for placing golden harps in tn
hand OF cheats. II says, Blessed tn
pure, blessed the righteous; 1t says, H
that calls his brother fool shall 60 wher
there is no harp music. 1t goes beyont
Mr.. Ingersoll, and forblds man from hop
ing for any good worship even on earth
his brother has aught against him. 1t say
liz you have come even 10 the altar, an,
there remember that some gentleman
hath aught against thee, go thy way an,
first DO reGonCilel to that gentleman,
and then you can take up your harp will
delight, and ii you should see that "peu
tleman" your hand will play all the NOR
Ijoyiully because you have amended tn
wong. Thusour ''intidel, instead Of sci
ting up better word than Gods Word
has only so expressed the ideas OF religio
that they shine forth out Of the lawyer
wit In aliRht which the pulpit Is not 8
free TO call It's aid. Now, It so happen
that there are and have been theologian
who have not set forth plainl
enough the value Of personal charaote
and personal good works. They hay
carried their substitutional ideas to sue
an excess that It has not been felt by III
average Christian that he need be anythiu
or do anything; he must depend who'll
= upon q substitute. Upon the hardene
crust Of such theology no blows b.
those of pitilesS ridicule could make on
Impression. Those religionists who sen
to perditlon men Of stainless integrit
saying over their righteous graves th
: mere morality Is most damnable, tho
teachers who will send a bloody murder
and lifelong swindler 10 Heaven by a FIN
u baptism ortive minutes Of fifth, have lor
haen beyond the reach OF ordinary Ia