The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1881-02-14

Something About the aialOrIC ChAFae-
ter In YhFIOua Relations,

BOmelhiug About the aiat0Fic ChaFAe-
ter In YaFI0us Relations.
The lecture delivered at the Hall Of the
House Of Delegates, Saturday night, by
Judge Thomas D. Houston was listened to
by small, but select audience, who seemed
to enjoy the happy hits made and the
flights OF rhetoric INDUCED in. The Judge
opened with an inquiry as to the identity
Of the parsonage whose title formed his
subject, not in the words, but to the same
effect as the old Scotch minister who in
auired, "Who the Devil he ISL"
The Judge considered the Devil mot %
the Prince Of Darkness, but as an in.
huence entering into various public and
private characters, and taking his part in
the public and domestic economy OF hu'
man affairs, His description Of the per-
sonage usually referred 70 as the Devil was
this:
"He is q princely personaRe-the very
embodiment o. royalty In sin. More beau
tiful thar Alcibiades, he appears, on first
acquaintance, without visible dsiormity,
with more learning than Socrates, and
greater eloqueHCe than Ingersoll, he con.
vinCes by the power OF his sophistry, and
attracts by the brillianCy Of his wit.
at 10 SANDER on Eve TO suppose her 10
have. been tempted by the horrible cloven-
footed monster OF the nursery, with his
twisted horns and iron wooden shovel.
Let US rather accept the description given
OF him by Milton, as the serpent toward
Eve addressed his way
"Wlth burnlshed neck Of VeidAnt gold, erect
Amidst his elrCling spires, that on the grass
FlsllOd redundant, Pleasing was his shape,
And lovely never aimee the serpent kind loVelier"
Or again he appears, mounted on the
night, as On black charger, carrying oil
He'll In his breast, and the trail Of HeRv.
ems glory on his brow; his eyes eClipaed
suns; his cheeks iuTTOwed, not by the
traces OF tears, but OF thunder; his wings,
two black forests; his heart, q mount Of
millstone; armed 10 the teeth, doubly
armed by pride, fury and despair; lonely
as death hungry as the grave; intrenChed
in immortality, defiant against every dit
fCulty and danger, does he pass before Us,
the most tremendous conception In the
compass OF poetry; the sublimeat creation
OF the mind Of man."
The devil, IN his relation as dictator Of
the fashionable world, was pictured, and
his work in this field referred to with gen
ial sarcasm; also the influence Of the same
being In matrimony and the preliminary
courtship. The Judge thinks, probably
from personal experience In some remote
age, that ITO talk love Ia to talk nonsense
to be lover Is to be IN absolute fool,
His remarks on this head were quite
amusing, and wound up with an apt quo
tation:
"Quoth Tom 10 Bet, I've thumped my brain,
An hour and ablye,
And tot my life cannot hId
Eimilo for love.
'Lsl what Adolt1 sir, love Is like
The measles, or being hunSt
Folks nSTer have Il twlcS, you know,
| And AlWayS catch II youngH"
Extracts from Dickens and other writers
were delivered with unusual aptness oil ex'
preston and ease OF delivery. Indeed,
the lecturers delivery throughout was
fine. His theme served to string running
series OF sketches upon, treating In sue
Cession Of the devil as Q preacher, In
which remarks the evident reference to @
celebrated Brooklyn divine provoked a
smile; as o political orator (Ben Butler)
and as public lecturer Dob Ingersoll).
His tribute to religion when speaking Of
Ingersoll's influence as lecturer, and bis
remarks on the subject oil temperance
were worth printing, had we the space TO
devote TO them. Asst Ia we must be content
with quotation under each head:
can enthusiastic Virginian has pro.
nounced q mint iulep" to be q creation Of
the gods. Not so. Like oil other alco-
holiC beverages, 1t Ia the invention OF the
Devil. Satanic influences enter into every
part OF It, from the grains Of GrRnulated
sugar at the bottom, to the blushinR straw
berry floating on top. The fragrance Of
It's mint 10 but an odor from hell; the
music OF It's ice, but the death.rattle OF
noble minds, inherited fortunes and do.
nestle happiness"
In speaking Of Bob Ingersoll he says:
"The very enthusiasm Of his infdelity
blinds his critical Judgement In one Of
his lectures he says: Honor bright, tell
you that all the sweet and beautiful things
In the Bible would not make one play Of
Shakespeare; all the philosophy in the
Bible would not make one scene In Ham.
let; all the beauties OF the Bible would not
make one scene In. Midsummer Nights
Dream all the beautiful things about wo.
men in the Bible would not begin TO create
such q character as Perdlta, or
Tmogene, or miranda. Not one.
It is q question Of taste. He 10 entitled
10 bis opinion; l am entitled to mine.
And, honor bright, l tell you that all the
sweet and beautiful things Ia Shakes.
peare would not make one fity.firs'
Psalm; al the philosophy In Shakespeare
would not make one chapter In Proverbs;
all the beauties Of Shakespeare would not
make one Song OF Solomon, and all the
beautiful things about Perdita or Imogene
or Miranda would not begin 10 create such
q !haracter as Ruth"