Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1880-09-08

OF NEW YORK, SAYS ABOUT THE TWO
MEN.
Men entertaining infidel opinions for the
past 20 or more years, and until the APP
pearance of Robert G. Ingersoll, have sci
dom obtruded themselves upon the public
There is nothing in the manner or matter
of modern divines either TO provoke OF
invite antagonism. Clergymen do not, as
formerly, dwell and linger upon the dark
features of theology. Nothing is now
heard of the fate of "infants not span
long" The ministry of our day is min
stry of peace, charity and goodwill. This
generation learns to love and serve, rather
than to dread and distrust. our Creator or
our Savior. Whatever grounds existed
formerly to tempt scoffers and revilers, the
religion of our time disarms and silences
unprejudiced criticism.
Col. lngersoll, whom l do not know, has
the reputation of being a gentleman oi
education, with a well-stored mind and
attractive personal manners, who speaks
huently and eloquentlv. 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, it seems, upon
his entrance into active life, chose the left
instead of the right pathway, and becomes
Il revler of, instead of believer in, re-
ligion which has been making the world
wiser, better and happier for almost nine.
teen centuries. Without questioning Col
lngersolps sincerity, or impugning his
motives. | am persuaded that if half the
time and labor expended in fortifying him
self with arguments against religion, had
been devoted to an intelligent and impair.
tial consideration of the evidences estab.
fishing its truths, the country would have
had, instead of a reviler. a gifted follower
of Him whose mission, labors, and charac.
ter. viewed merely from a worldly stand.
pooint, inspire admiration, affection anc
gratitude. Is it not, therefore, painful TO
see men richly endowed perverting theil
gifts. misusing their talents, in presump
luous revilings and ribald jestings against
il Creator and Savior from whom every
earthly bounty and blessing emanateP
No act of the Savior's life and no word
He ever uttered has been or can be con.
strued or tortured into hostility to the wei
fare and happiness of every member of the
human family. Human laws are founded
upon the divine law. All that concern.
our happiness here and our hopes of hap
piness hereafter is derived from the Scrip
lures. On the other hand, what ha.
infdeity done for usp Who profits by it,
teachingsP After depriving its followers
of their belief in a future, how does i
compensate themP What does it offer in
exchange for life of Immortality? If fol
example. Col Ingersoll summoned to the
bedside of a dying friend or relative, wha
words of comfort or of hope could he offer
Of what service could he be to that strick
en- friend Would he, aggravate tn,
sufferings of one whose last hours needec
soothing by telling him there was nothing
but the cold, dark grave awaiting him
This cruel theory is repelled not only by
revelation but by the laws of nature. Ma
ture is instinct with evidences and contir
nations of the truths of revelation. The
vegetable and floral world only die to live
again. The products of the earth live ant
die annually. The buried acorn repro
duces the living oak. And yet iniilelity
insists that man, the image of his Creator
wonderfully endowed and gifted, unde
whose auspices the world has been en-
lightened, elevated and adorned, is after ,
brief existence to be as though he hat
never been. Contrast the labors o
VoItaire and Paine with those of Johr
Wesley. Can it be said with truth that tn,
former two made any one better or hap
pierp Hundreds of thousands of the
followers of John Wesley have lived anC
died and other hundreds of thousands
survive, rejoicing in their conversion from
u sinful to Il Christian life. The memory
of Wesley is everywhere cherished by lh'
good and the pure, while Voltare anC
Paine are only remembered for the evi
rather than fol- the good they did.
If it is urged that the promises of tn,
Savior have not all been realized, that sil
still abounds and that the world is as baC
as ever, it may be answered that religion
is working out its mission; that the benigl
influences are constantly extending, an,
that light is radiating the darkest recesse
of heaLhenism and idoatry. 1t require.
no argument to demonstrate the fact tina
our race is improved by civilization, o
that civilization owes its origin and pro
gress to religion. To religious influence
we are indebted for all the reforms whicl
benefit society. Our Sunday schools wer
instituted in obedience to divine com
maud. In these schools children ar,
taught. without money and without price,
all that concerns their present welfare ant
their future happiness. These intellectual
nurseries have enriched and fertilized, an,
continue TO enrich and fertilze, every city
village, hamlet, and househould through
out the Christian world. If religion ha
done nothing more than to bless our rae
with the consecrating influences of Sunda
schools, scotfers should be shamed int
silence.