Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1881-01-24
A WOMANs. ANSWER.

|. Il WOMANS ANSWER.
The Doctrines Advanced by Col. "Bob''
Ingersoll Criticised and Analysed by
Mrs. Matilda Fletcher--A Large and In
terested Audience.
The Opera House was comfortably filed
last night with those anxious to hear what
Mrs. Matilda Fletcher might have to say on
the subject OF "Faith, or a Woman's Answer
to Mans Question" The lecture was in
the nature of O reply to Ingersoll, and was lis
tened to with marked interest.
| The lecturer commenced by alluding to the
difficult nature of her subject, 'Faith," which
she described as the Towering of the spiritual
nature. The lecturess then glanced at the
history and religious beliefs OF the Pagan
nations, describing first the faith of the Per-
SLAMS and Chinese and the curious methods
followed in the pursuit of happiness. The
faith of tho Brahman was described as belief
that the true road of happiness was in com.
plete isolation.
| The Chinese believed they were surrounded
| by halo of light and love; Confucius gave
them the pure, plain virtues as a guide, but
they could not all grasp his ideal, seeking
rather life of sensuality. Confucius taught
/ cO WCll t1dU ~ LILO SdyluRo udu UCCA dCCSPoOu
China might have been an Eden;
so it was with Persia; and
the same beautiful faith came floating from Cal
vary's hills. Greece and Rome poured out
her faith in beautiful song; the Hebrew scrip
lures were full of instances of this beautiful
law; Ingersoll had stated that very few people
| had read the bible for themselves; certainly
| they did not read it as he did, he araphrased
| it and burlesquedit and what has been the re.
suit.
| The speaker said she had no quarrel with In,
gersoll; she wanted somebody to shake up the
churches; and why? Because men and women
| had not been content to sit at the feet of
Christ; they had filled their minds with the
geography of Palestine, and the history and
ular import, instead of taking that which;min.
istered to the spiritual and moral welfare of the
soul. The bible should be studied only with
reference to it's spiritual and moral qualities.
Take away the desire for the study of the curl
GUS and return to the thoughts that concern
the immortal soul and the love of Christ and
the Sunday schools and churches to overflow.
ing.
Jefferson was said to be an infdel, but to.
wards the close of his life he had said that
the principles Christ taught were so pure and
good and beautiful, so self-evident for the
good of mankind, that If they had been ac
cepted as Christ taught them the world would
long since have been converted to the truth.
The lecturess referred to the second chapter
of Genesis, in which the creation of the
world was related. In that chapter it was
shown that God had put Adam and Eve to-
gether and that Adam had neglected his young
wife. She was athirst for knowledge; she was
tempted and ate of the fruit, and finding that
it was good she gave it to Adam, and he did
eat.
Since then man had been condemned to
work; there was no record that woman had
been driven from evil the record said man
had been driven from the garden All this
odium. which had been flung at woman had no
place in the scriptures. Woman, before God,
had been equal to man since the world began.
She had not been curse, as IngersoI would
have it.
The speaker eloquent,y referred to the SUBJ
serviency of woman when domineered over by
brutal, ignorant and degraded men in savage
of her tender and loving character as help
meet and moral support to man. While the
speaker admitted his genius and penetration
she did not believe an analysis of his works
would result In moral pabulum fol a evenings
reading.
The speaker cited some of the best sayings
of Ingersoll-his love for children, tender re-
gard for women, and the sentiments relating
to the fraternity and equality of man-were
spoken of as having been borrowed from the
principles laid down by Christ. Mr. Ingcrsoll
believed in a sunny temper, but was 1t not the
gospel of sunshine and light
and beauty that Christ taught?
He burlesqued the gloomy and long faces
worn by those who believed that religion rests
in crucifying the flesh.
Was 1t not Christ who first held up the
hypocrites to contempt? He ridiculed faith,
but the speaker claimed that nothing could be
successful without faith. 1t was one thing to
know that honesty was beautiful and another
to be honest it was one thing to know the
blessings of magniminity and another to know
the glorious feelings that came from being
magnanimOus.
Christ came as q spiritual being to teach
man how to be radiant with happiness; to give
man this curious something that was visible
in all the universe; that beautiful power
and gift he appropriated and disseminated
through all the ages The speaker quoted
Emerson's beautiful definition of faith, ''the
overflow of the spirit, and made eloquent al
lusion to Carlyle, who believed that no ray of
light was ever lost.
Faith was moving force, an outgoing of
the soul, q beautiful gathering of all the forces
of the soul; willing to be anything or nothing;
| it was the going forth of the will to God; con-
science was the highest native element of the
soul; faith was moved by love; conscience
| urged us to do right; it was the connecting
llnK between lne SOUL ana uOQ, love was LHe
means through which Christ worked. It was
love that accomplished all the good in the
world; in the absence of love came all the mis-
| cry and anguish of the world.
The lectures compared faith to the load
star of the soul, animating 1t and filling it
| with the good, the true and beautiful. She
| illustrated the moral qualities of the soul
by a spiritual chart, representing the moral
| qualities of the soul. Her experience as an
infidel was given, and she related in, pathetic
manner the process of her conversion.
An elaborate disquisition was given on the
| virtues that go to make up. exalted character,
as illustrated in the chart, and the speaker
| closed with an appeal for spiritual awaken.
ing in the churches, schools and homes of the
country.
DAILY WEATHER BULLETIN.
OFFICE OBSERVATION, SIGNAL CORPS, U .S.A.
INeERsoLL BLOCK, THIRD STREET,
ST. PAUL, MINN.