The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1880-11-25
The Modern WalpurgIs.

P"ts, "",s wv" O'iI''S ''no .ooi"6 !"
gether. They were brought in contact
by the political emergencies of the Re-
publican party, during the campaign for
President. That they should have been
delighted with one another may cause
seme surprise, but any such sentiment
ought to vanish when one remembers
their dramatic individuality. Mr.. Beech
er conceded that Colonel Ingersol was
Zone ofthe greatest men of the age" and
added:
II am an ordained clergyman, and be.
lieve in revealed religion. l am, there
fore, bound to regard all persons who do
not believe in revealed religion as in err.
ror. But OH the broad platform ofhuman
liberty and progress I was bound to give
him the right hand Of fellowship. I
would do i. a thousand times over. do
not know Colonel IngersolPs religious
views precisely, but I have a general
knowledge of them. He has the same
right to free thought and free speech that
l have. am not that kind of coward
who has to kick man before he shakes
hands with him. IF | did so I would
have to kick the Methodists, Roman
Catholics and all other creeds. I will
not pitch into any mans religion as an
excuse for giving him my hand. I ad-
mire Ingersoll, because he is not afraid
to speak what he honestly thinks, and !
am only sorry that he does not think as
I do. | never heard so much brilliancy
and pith put into two hours speech as
I did on that night. / wish my whole
congregation had been there 10 hear it.
When told what Mr.. Beecher thought
of him, Col. Ingersoll said:
l regard him as the greatest man in any
pulpit in the world. He treated me
with generosity that nothing can ex-
ceed. He rose graudly above the preju:
dices supposed to be long to his class and
acted as only Il man could act without q
chain upon his brain and only kindness
in his heart. I told him that night that
l congratulated the world that it had a
minister with an intellectual horison
broad enough and a mental sky studded
with stars of genious enough TO hold all
creeds in scorn that shocked the heart
of man. think that Mr..
Beecher has liberalized the English
speaking people of the world. do not
think he agrees with me. He holds to
many things I most passionately deny.
But in common we believe in the lib
eriy of thought. My principal objec.
tions to orthodox religion are two
slavery here and hell hereafter. l do
not believe that Mr.. Beecher on these
points can disagree with me. The real
difference between US is, he says God,
I say nature. The real agreement be.
tween us is, we both say liberty. \ :
For years he has endeavored to hide
the dungeon of orthodoxy with the ivy
of Imagination. Now and then he pulls
for moment the leafy curtain aside
and is Mortified to see the lizards,
snakes, basilisks and abnormal mon
sters of the orthodox age and then he
utters great cry, the protest of low
ing, throbbing heart.
"He is great thinker, marvellous
orator and, in my judgment, greater
and grander than any creed of any
church. Besides all this, he treated me
like king. Manhood is his greatest
forte, and 1 expect to live and die his
friend"
If third party in religion were to
be established, Beecher and Ingersoll
would be the apostles of it. 1t is one Of
the curiosities of the Republi-
can party that it can, as an
organization claiming "all the morals" "
applaud the fraternity between Beecher
and an Ingersoll. Such copartuership
would seem to indicate very bad state
of morality and religion at the North, and
if anything were wanting to put the cap
stone to this supposition, the following
telegram to q Western paper would
appear to accomplish that dread judg'
ment.
New YORK, November 7.
Rev. Justin D. Fulton said in his SER
mon to-day: We oughtto answer the ques'
-"Why is the country saved 2
Why does the Government remain in
loyal keeping?" At least we ought to
study it. The mystery is before us. Who
can comprehend it? Is it not explained
in the words, "The poor have had the
Gospel preached to them?" 1t is its
truth that has made men free, not the
men who proclaim it. The multitude
will be ministered unto by some. The
bad or good shall lead it. In the Revo'
lutionary war the man whose voice was
the most potent was not Washington OF
Lafayette, but Thomas Paine. His book
and his influence cheered the heart o
every soldier. Robert G. Ingersoll was
born in Dresden, New York, in 1888, the
son Of a Presbyterian minister. He ha;
had a singular history. He has the ear o.
the multitude. His powers of persua
sion are felt to be so great that Christian
men sought him out to search for and
capture those who were beyond theil
reach. Every one of these men ought tc
have been loved and cherished and held
by the Christian Church. 1t was di
vinely fitting that that eminent preacher
in this city should present Col. Ingersoll
who ministers to the multitude, and in
that respect lie is far ahead of many
Christian preachers
We can only infer from these episode:
that very powerful element in North
ern ecclesiasticism, especially of tha
kind which runs political pulpit, j:
endeavoring 10 make inidelity the touch
stone of genuine patriotism, and to tha
end aids in the consecration of tom
Paine and "Bob" Ingersoll.
1t is a good thing for the North tha
there are so many other clergymen who
do not "tear down the very walls which
divide the good and i'll of our nature
corrupting all the fountains of sound
thinking and feeling in our great cities.
These excellent pastors may save theil
Sodom. But it seems to US that the
dominant sentiment is that created by
Voltaire, Diderot, and Madame De Pom
padour. They came and reigned, ant
after them poured in a deluge of blooc
and fire, out of which the Corsican rose
In the name of liberty, Ingersoll en-
braces Beecher, who had already EN-
braced the hero of Canonchet. In tht
name Of liberty, Mr.. Fulton holds VI
Paine as the savior Of the country, in
stead of Washington. In the name o
! liberty, the guillotine sprang into exis