The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1881-07-26
BLACK on INeERSoLL.
The ChrassEAa Reaagfsn Aaaacaxe.
ard DeGemAeA.

IN q DeEenAeA.
The North American ReoSeso devotes
hundred and f4rty-thrss Pagss Of iss Au-
gust number to a paper by Colonel Robert
G. Ingersoll on the Christian religion and
the REPLY to Ingersoli by Judge Black.
1t need scarcely be said by those who
have heard the lectures of Colonel Inger-
soil that ne max the strongest presenta-
tion of the case that the side which he
takes will admit of, while Judge Blacks
defense of the Christian religion, like all
his controversies al papers, is written in that
vigorous and tnasterly style in which he
has but few rivals and no superior. Col
onel IngersollP Is motto is +" In the pres
ence of eternity the mountains are as
transient as the Clouds" whilst Judge
Black flies this quotation from the Mer-
chant of Venice: e Gratiano speaks an
infinite deal of nOthing-more than any
man in Venice; his reasons are as two
grains of wheat hid in two bushels of
chat; you shall seek all day ere you find
them, and when you have them they
are not worth the search"
THE CAUsk AND THE ADVOCATE
Mr.. Ingersoll is not, Judge Black says,
as some have estimated him, the most
formidable enemy that Christianity has
encountered since the time of Julian the
Apostate But he stands at the head of
living infidels "by merit raised to that
bad eminence.r His mental organization
has the peculiar defects which fit for such
a place. He is all imagination and no
discretion. He rises sometimes into q re-
gion of wild poetry, where he can color
everything to suit himself His motto
we'll expresses the character of his argu-
mentation: I" Mountains are as unstable
as Clouds" a fancy is as good as fact,
and high-son nnding period is rather bet
ter than logical demonstration. His in
ordinate self1confdence makes him at
once ferocious and fearless. He was
practical politician before he took the
stump" again st Christianity, and at all
times he has proved his capacity to split
the ears of the groundiings and make
the unskillful laugh. The article before
us is the least Objectionable of all his pro-
ductions. Its style is higher and better
suited to the weight of the theme. Here
the violence Of his fierce invective is mod
Grated his seurrility gives place to an at
tempt at sophistry less shocking if not
more true, and his coarse jokes are either
excluded altogether or else yelled in the
decent obscufity Of general terms. Such
a paper from such . man, at time like
the present, is not wholly unworthy of a
grave contradiction.
He makes certain charges which we an
swer by an explicit denial, and thus an
issue is made, upon which, a . pleader
would say, we ~put ourselves upon the
country" He AYERS that certain sOme-
thing called Christianity " is q false faith
imposed on the world without evidence;
that the facts it pretends to rest on are
mere inventions; that It's doctrines are
pernicious; that its requirements are nm
reasonable, and that its sanctions are
cruel. deny all this, and assert on the
contrary that its doctrines are divineIy
revealed Its fundamental facts incontes-
tably proved; its morality perfectly free
from all tailt of error, and its influence
most bene6cent upon society in general,
and upon all individuals who accept it
and make it their rule Of action. want
a decision upon sound Judicial principles.
MIR. IngersolPs first specification against
Christianity is the belief Of its disciples
that there is personal God, the creator
of the material universe.r IL God made
the world il was most stupendous mira
Gle, and all miracles, according to Mr.. In
gersoll's idea, are the children Of men
dacity." To admit the enc great miracle
Of creation would Be ~ admission that
other miracles are At least probable, and
that would ruin his whole case But you
cannot catch the ,IeviaEhian Of atheism
with . hook. The universe, be says, Is
natural-it came into being Of ita own
accord, it made It's own laws At the start,
and aftsrward improved itaelf aonaidera-
bly, by spontaneous evolution. It wouldI
be . mere waste Of time and space 70
enumerate The preof which show that the
universe was created by pre-exisssnt and
self-consciops Being, Of power and wisdom
70 NJ inconoeivable. The notion thzs al
things owe their origin and their harmo1
nious arrangement TO the foFtnit0us CON
cnrrence OF atoma = . kind Of lanscy
which very few men IN these days are
| afflicted wikh. al sesi 1e
But Mr.. IngersoH asserts that, 1t all
| events, this mateFiGRwufh had not good
and bene6eent creator; it - Ahad, savage,
cruel piece Of work, With itsj pestilesces,
storms, earthquakes and volcanoes; and
man, with his liability to sickness, suffer
| ing and death, i NOT : success, but, oi
| the contrary, failure. TO defend The
Creator Of the WoEId againsE IN arraign-
ment 90 fbal - this lw0uld Be aalmest -
unbecomiIg - 70 mahe sbe sceasstfosl.
Meantime We do not disereiiit our mehtai
Independence bys taking 4. .ter gEanfea
that the Sapgeme BeinR AAs d0ns al
things well Oas ignotasesgf che whole
scheme makes M poos cffisics upcn tie
small part that coaes wsiifkin our limited
Pereeptio1s- eaari.aI'a sssasr .so's..,4 4s'f
= on5xcrsons 10 sIoszsc law y,
3 Dispie9inR il sbnathingH wnnda Col. II.
/ geEn0llhc eharEe % 1st IL AotAl CO.,
Judge Bl4sk allnaes - - - eeafes u
tise citil tode d IL Jsps, VlfrA lager
.sen pfpniales - - end aziust th}l
~ hM-giveesh ~ whom 4 wsssssntaaah