The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1880-05-20
JACKSON, OHIO, THURSDAY,
[Cincinnati Commercial, May lOth1
COL. INGERSOLL.
Magnificent Ovation to the Distin-
guished Orator.
Two Thousand People Listen and APP
plaud till II o'clock.
Outline of his Lecture-''What Shall L Do to Be
Saved2r

Outline of his Lecture-''What Shall L Do to b
Saved2''
Yesterday. while thousands were at
tracted to Music Hall in the after
noon. to hear the Gospel of salvation
the story of the Savior of the world
and the power and glory of Christiani
ty, told by the eloquent Bishop Simp
son, and the magnificent audience 0.
seven thousand people joined in sing
ing praises to the Great God on High
and became deeply impressed with th'
story OF the cross,-there appeared a
Pixies Opera House in the evening
man from the prairies of Illinois whost
fame as an orator and opponent o1
Christianity is as wide as the univers,
itself. One depicting in glowing pic
lures the beauties Of the religion Of
the world, the other denouncing and
assailing it! At an early hour Pike
| Opera House entrance was besieged by
people eager to gain admission and Sc
cure desirable seats, and by the time
The lecturer appeared on the platform
very seat in the house, including bal
aony and gallery, was occupied, and
hundreds stood in the aisles. 1t is saf,
TO estimate the audience at fully two
thousand. Colonel Ingersoll was
greeted with hearty and prolonged ap-
plause, and throughout his lecture
which consumed about two hours ani
half, the large audience seemed to b.
"ntranced with the eloquence of tn.
speaker. and at times when the latter
IN his own inimitable way. eloquentIy
presented some Of his glowing pic
tures. the applause or laughter wonld
be spontaneous and hearty Quite :;
number of ladies graced the assem-
blage with their presence Below VT
give an outline Of the lecture:
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN-Fear i,
the dungeon Of the mind, and super
stition is the dagger with which hy-
pOcrisy assasSinates the soul. As long
Us man stands in fear of some imagi-
nary God, so long must he be crouch
ing coward and slave. Applause. |
If there is God who does not " ish II,
TO think, why did He give us brain:
All / contend for in this world is in
tellectual liberty. I do not care what
God you worship. or what Church you
belong to. For thousands of years tn,
cry has been of the hypocrite and cum
uing priest, "What shall we do to b.
saved?" Saved from poverty and
crime, unhappiness? No; but saved
from the horrors in some other world
| do not believe there is any God who
ever preached to a solitary human be-
ing that man would be eternally
damned and miserable. They tell me
God made man from the dust. If God
preached such doctrine He should have
left that senseless clod, because by
it human being, who would
suffer forever, He would simply add
pain to the universe If no human
being existed the earth would turn
upon its axis just as now. We are not
of as much importance as you may
but we are of too much i'm
port;lnce to be the slave Of any igno-
rant creed, or to drink sour milk in
this world with the expectation of
butter beyond the clouds; we are of
too much Importance to make a hell
of this world for fear Of a hell in an
other. We have got what we call the
Christian system, scheme of civiliza-
ton over which the infinite God Is
to have brooded for millions
of ages. What would orthodoxy do
without the devil? No devil, no hell;
no hell, no atonement; no atonement,
no preach mo preach, pay. Laugh
ter and applause. The Son of God
had to be sacrificed for the sins Of
men. | am charged with the rascal
ity Of Adam. They say he was my
representative. [ was not in the eau
Gus that nominated him-he is moth
ing to me.
Give any Church in the United
States absolute power and this would
be the last lecture | would deliver in
this country. My opinion is that the
man Christ was reformer-an infdel
in his day. He held ceremony and
form in absolute contempt. He re-
futpd the idea Of worship in temple
md taught the doctrine of universal
love and forgiveness applausn, and
said some bitter things about the
Scribes and Pharispes-the thpologians
of his day. And I imagine if he We're
on earth now he would repeat some of
his remarks. Laughter Wherever
man has died for man that spot IS no.
" ground. and to the man Christ |
pay the tribute of my admiration.
IF he was a God. my feelings then
are different. He knew what we call
death was but the opening of the gol-
den gates of eternal joy. If he were
God. he had it in his power to make
the cross AS delightful as the kiss Of
one we love.
Ministers have been preaching for
hundreds of years, telling you what to
do to be saved. Industry has divided
its crust that hypocrisy might feast.
Poverty has built palaces for God, and
then lived i'll caves. Wherever reli-
gion has had sway liberty has fled.
If there is any hell | do not want to
go there. | am just as anxious to be
an angel as any of you are. | do not
think any God can afford to save
Presbyterian and damn me. Laugh
ter want to see what | have got
to TO to be saved. Here the lecturer
read extracts from the Gospel of st.
Matt lew, Luke, John and Revelation,
and commented thereon in his peculiar
epigrammatic style.
Christ says to me, according to the
Bible, IF you will desert your wife
and children for my names sake. |
will reward you a hundred fold and
give you eternal life besides And !
say | do not want eternal life on such
conditions. | will not desert my wife
for any Christ [Applause Will
not desert my children for any heaven
Or any crown of glory. Voice. Bra