Northern tribune. [volume] (Cheboygan, Mich.) 1875-1885, 1880-11-06
THURLow WEED ON INGERsOLL.

-
THURLOw WEED ON INGERSOIL.
Christianity and Inidelity as Under
stood by the Veteran Journalist.
To the editor of the New York Herald.
Men entertaining infdel opinions for
the last 20 or more years, and until the
appearance of Robert G. IngersOll, have
seldom obtruded themselves upon the
public. There is nothing in the manner
or matter of modern divines either to
provoke or invite antagOnism. Clergy
men do not, as formerly, dwell and ling
er upon the dark features of theology.
Nothing is now heard of the fate of in
fants not a span long" The ministry of
our day is ministry of peace, charity
and good will. This generation learns
to love and serve rather than to dread
and distrust our Creator and Savior.
Whatever grounds existed formerly to
tempt scoffers and reyilers the religion
of our time disarms and silences unprej-
udiced criticism.
Col. Ingersoll, whom do not know,
has the reputation of being gentleman
of education, with well stored mind
and attractive personal manners, who
speaks fluently and elOquently. A man
thus gifted can do much good, but much
more evil, according to the principles
espoused and the line of conduct marked
out for himself. Col. IngersOll, 1T seems,
upon the entrance into active life, chose
the left instead of the right pathway,
and becomes a reviler of, instead of a
believer in, religion which has been
making the world wiser, better and hap
pier for almost 10 centuries. Without
questioning Col. IngersOlrs sincerity or
impugning his motives | am persuaded
that If halflthe time and labor expended
i'm fortifying himself with arguments
against religion had been devoted to an
intelligent and impartial consideration
of the evidences establishing its truths
the country would have had instead of
reviler a gifted follower of Him whose
mission, labor and character, viewed
merely from worldly standpoint, in
spire admiration, affection and graft
tude. 1t is not, therefore, painful to see
men richly endowed perverting their
gifts, misusing their talents in presump-
tuOus revilings and ribald jestings
against Creator and Savior from
whom every earthly bounty and blessing
emanate?
No act of the Sayior's life and no word
He ever uttered has been or can be con-
strued or tortured into hostility to the
welfare and happiness of every member
of the human family. Human laws are
founded upon the divine law. All that
concerns our happiness here and hopes
of happiness hereafter Is derived from
the Scriptures. On the other hand what
has infidelity for us? Who profits by its
teachings? After depriving its follow
ers of their belief i'm future, how does
it compensate them? What does it Of
fer in exchange for life of immortal
ity? If. for example, Col. lngersOll
should be summoned to the bedside OF a
diving friend or relative, what words of
comfort or of hope could he offer? OF
what service could he be to that stricken
friend? Would he aggrayate the suffer
inps of one whose last hours needed
soothing by telling him there was moth
ing but the cold, dark gave awaiting
him? This cruel theory is repealed not
only by revelation but by the laws of
nature. Nature is instinct with evil
dences and combinations of the truths
of revelation. The vegetable and floral
world only die to live again. The pro-
ducts of the earth live and die annually.
The buried acorn reprOduces the living
oak. And yet infidelity insists that man,
the image of the Creator, wonderfully
endowed and gifted, under whose aus
pices the world has been enlightened,
elevated and adorned, is, after brief
existance, to be as though he had meyer
been. Contrast the labOrs of VOltaire
and Paine with those of John Wesley.
Can it be said with truth that the former
two made any one better or happier?
Hundreds of thousands of the followers
of John Wesley have lived and died, and
hundreds of thousands survive, re-
joicing in their conversation from sin
full to Christian life. The memory of
Wesley is everywhere cherished by the
good and the pure, while YOltaire and
Paine are only remembered for the evil,
rather than for the good they did.
If it be urged that the promises of the
Savior have not all been realized, that
sin still abOunds and that the world is as
bad as ever, it may be answered that re-
ligien is working out its missions; that
its benign influences are constantly eX-
tending, and that light is radiating into
the darkest recesses of heatheniSm and
idOlatry. 1t requires no argument to
demonstrate the fact that our race is
improved by civilization, or that civiliz-
alton owes its origin and progress to re-
ligiOn. To religious influences we are
indebted for all the reforms which bene-
fit society. Our Sunday schools were
instituted in obedience to divine COM
mand. In these schools children are
taught without money and without
price" all that concerns their present
welfare and their future happiness.
These intellectual nurseries have enrich
cd and fortified, and continue TO enrich
and fertllize every city, village, hamlet
and household throughout the Christian
world. If religion mad done nothing
more than to bless our race with the con-
aecrating influences of Sunday schools
scoffers should be shamed into silence.
WHAT RELIGION HAS DONE FOR NEW YORK.
Our city furnishes many examples Of
the beneicence of religion. Forty years
ago locality too well known as the
"Five Points," with population OF sew
eral thousands, was the home OF the VII
est of the vile, and the resort Of others
equally debased. Men, women and chill
dren Ofall natiOnalities and cOlors herded
together, differing only in the degrees of
crime and the depths of prOfigacy
habitually practiced. Their days were
passed ineither idleness or depredatiOns.
Their nights were spent in dance house
debaucheries. All healthy or wholesome
Influences were excluded. Children
grew up to become either street beggars
or inmates of the almsh0use, and their
parents filed peniteHtiaries and prisons.
Inese orgies continued year after year,
defiant and aggressive, until that pand-
emonium was invaded by Christian men
and women whose patience would not