Eureka daily sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1871-1887, 1881-05-27
Mr.. Gallagher Correcfs Rev. Mr.
U.ndd.

EDITOR SENTINEL-Dear Sir: i nave JUS
received q copy Of the SENTINEL containing
q so-called defence Of the Bible by Rev
Mr.. Ladd Of Eureka, in reply to my ad'
dress delivered in the Opera House at Eu'
reka on March 80. 1t is not my purpose
to notice this puerile sophism at length
1t needs 10 answer. Its lack Of knowledge
and confounding Of theological terms are
the only refutation necessary. However, ]
feel it my duty, when ignorance assumes
the role of learned conceit, to expose that
ignorance. The only corrections ] have
| the time and patience to make are two that
concern me personally.
Among other things Mr.. Ladd said
/" My only criticism on Mr.. Gallagher Is
this l am deeply sorry that at an hour
when he was exhausted, Mr.. Gallagher
should permit himself to remove the old
foundation principles upon which he had
been building 81 many years." Indeed
Who informed Mr.. Ladd that Mr.. Gala
CHER removed foundation principles when
he was exhausted ?" The audience pres
emf at my lecture in the Opera House are
aware that the condensed printed report Of
my lecture contained in the Eureka dailies
were not correct reports, much less the ex-
act words / used. Mr.. Ladd was present
in that audience and heard that address.
He and my other auditors will distinctly
remember that I said that / long had
doubts and misgivings about the subject
On which / was speaking, and that, with all
intelligent men, I had long doubted the
inspiration Of the Scriptures, and that 1
could not see how any person possessed Of
reason and intelligence could help doubt
ing the inspiration Of plain moral contra
d~ictions / further stated that / had
studied these things before, and was ia
miliar with the objections Of Renan,
Strauss, Voltaire, Hume and Tom Paine,
but that it makes all the difference in the
world whether one studies a subject with
the mind prepared to believe the argu-
ments presented, or whether he studies
from o critical standpoint, to be influenced
by the evidence presented. l repeat that
in my address l stated that l long had
doubts and misgivings, and the only thing
l claimed for the encyclopedia articles was
that they presented the subject which /
had formerly studied in a more forcible
form than l had seen elsewhere. Mr..
Ladd's pity for my exhausted condition
was one-eyed charity squirting in two d.
r~ections first, toward the patronage of
my many friends in Eureka; and secondly.
toward a distorted exaggeration of facts,
for | said that it was after / had carefully
weighed the evidence presented in the
aforesaid articles that / was forced to mod
lily my views. Mr.. Ladd's statement is
that when exhausted / modified my views.
l now restate my former assertion.
The second correction is Of more i'm
portance, a correction which will exhibit
the ignorance OF this fine defender of the
Bible and expose the fippant assumptions
OF this learned t~heologian's arguments.
With all the noisy conceit of a schoolboy
who knows everything discovered and un-
discovered in the circle Of the sciences,
Mr.. Ladd continues: We were told that
the change of faith was occasioned by read
ing certain encyclopedia articles. 1 Am
astonished that the gentleman was not ac-
quainted with the most Of these articles
previous to two or three weeks ago. Be-
fore / left the institute a Professor re-
feyred me to DR.. Smiths writings, and
I hare in my library quite a list of
statistics taken from these articles. For
some few months / have not had access to
the Britannica, and am not acquainted
with all Of DR.. Smiths writings in that
work. But you need not be alarmed re-
garding the results to follow a perusal Of
these articles. The great majority of the
preachers Of all English speaking peoples
are perfectly familiar with them" For
cool audacity the above paragraph exceeds
anything / have ever heard or read from q
gentleman calling himself q preacher of
truth and righteousness. Let US examine
the truthfulness OF the bold statements in
the above paragraph. Mr.. Ladd has been
preaching in Nevada since 1878. 1.-The arti-
Giles referred to were written expressly and
only for tie ninth edition of the
Encyclopedia Britannica, and neper
appeared in any other publication.
The eleventh (xi) volume Of the Ency-
clopedia Britannica contains the.'articles on
the Gospel" and on "Hebrew Litera-
ture," to which articles I particularly re-
ferred in my address. The eleventh vol
ume was not published until the year
1880. I and other gentlemen In Eureka
have been subscribers for the Britannica,
and we received them, three Q year, just
as they were published, and up to the
close OF the year 1880 only the eleventh
volume was published. Rev. Robertson
Smith, D. D., Professor in q Presbyterian
theological seminary in Edinburgh, Scot
land, wrote the articles on Hebrew Lit
erature In the eleventh volume. This.
ana MS artlcle on tne BLDG, ana the Otnef
articles I mentioned, were published no.
where else than in this edition of the
Britannica. Mr.. Ladd's statement is as
follows: That two years before DR.. Smiths
articles were published, Mr.. Ladd's Pro-
lessor was Familiarity referring him to DR..
Smiths articles; that he (Mr. Ladd) had
taken statistics from them at that time
and that "tbe great majority Of the
preachers and all English-speaking peo-
pie were familiar with them" Oh dear
What will not ignorant conceit next do
II Mr.. Ladd had taken the trouble to learn
what he was talking about, he might have
saved himself this Notifying exposure OF
his ignorance.
I should Judge from reading the re-
mainder Of Mr.. Ladd's defense that the
instruction which he received in logic and
polemics was very similar to that which
his good Professor, in 1878, had given him
on the articles in the eleventh volume OF
the Encyclopedia Britannica.
GEORGE W. GALLAGHER.
Bay Shore, L. l., N. Y, May IA, 1881.
Big Reduction.
~ T-.-lf.- q NJ -.lA - -.