Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1882-02-06
INFIDELITy.
The Fourth Reply to Col. lngersolrs
Lecture:
The lnfdeI Penknife -Stabbing at Christ
The keanness of ln6delity-lnger-
soils Parentage-A Plea for
Their Memory.
THE RELIGION OF "DON'T KNOW"

to Col. Ingersoll, on the the meanness
of infidelity. His text was jeremiah
xxxvi., ,23-"When Jehundi had read three
or four leaves, he cut it with his pen
knife"
DR. Talmage said: There sits Jehoiakim
in his winter house, his feet up toward the
fire blazing and cracking on the hearth.
His private secretary is reading from the
scrollscontaining Gods words TO jeremiah.
The divine scroll does not please Jehoia-
kim, and he gets red in the face and Jumps
up and snatches the scroll out of the hands
OF his private secretary, and cuts it all to
pieces with his penknife. He thought by
cutting the scroll he could destroy the
prophecy. Oh, no; jeremiah took another
scroll and it was redictated. All the pen
knives ever made in Sheffield, or in the
combined cutleries of the world, could not
successfully destroy the Scriptures. We
have Jehoiakim now who is attempting
with his penknife to slash the divine scroll
TO pieces He tries to stab Moses; TO STAB
Joshua; to stab all the prophets and evan
gelical apostles; to stab Christ, and 10
Stab the God OF the Bible.
But while the modern Jehoiakim is cut
ting to pieces his only copy of the Bible
for | suppose he has not more than one
copy Of this dangerous book in his house,
hold and that so carefully locked and
guarded that none OF his friends coming
near can get poisoned by it-there are
more copies OF this book being printed
than of any other book in all secular or
religious literature. A very small number
of the most popular books have been
printed in comparison. DlSraelis Endym-
ion and Shakspeare's tragedies have had
a very slow sale compared with this Bible
which. after the assaults Of thousands OF
IngersollS for centuries, has now over
three hundred millions of copies in exist
ence. There are at least ten thousand
Bibles porn to one destroyed. Cut away
| then with all your
InfdeI Penkpives.
The attempt is made by Mr.. Ingersoll to
| cut the Bible to pieces with the sharp knife
| blade of ridcule. Now, like fun. No
| ton of il. There is no harm but positive
health in laughter; physical health,
mental health, moral health, spiritual
health; if you only laugh at the right
things The morning is jUCuHd with Its
own mist. The Indian appropriately
| baptizes the cataract as Minnehaha, or
| laughing water. He has not eyes open or
| ears alert who has not seen the sea smile or
heard the forests clap their hands, or
orchards on blossom week aglee with redo
| lence But there is o destructive mirth I;
there is laughter which is the rebound
! of despair 1t is not healthful to giggle
about God, or to chuckle about eternity, or
litter About the Souls Destiny.
| suppose YOU know what caused that
terrible disaster on Hudson River railroad,
two or three weeks ago, by which nine
| lives were DESTROYED, and the shudder OF
horror was sent across the country. An
intoxicated man in fun pulled the string
of the air brake and stopped the train al
the most dangerous point OF its journey.
| Not knowing there was any obstruction on
the track, down came the the express train,
smashing out the mangled bodies of the
| victims the immortal spirit, that the next
instant went speeding toward God in judg-
ment. Ii was only Joke of an intoxicated
passenger. All that Mr.. IngersOll is trying
TO do is to halt the belief of the world. He
wants TO stop the long train OF the Bibles
and the long train Of the churches, and the
long train of christian influences. Mean
while coming down upon us are death,
judgment and eternity coming thousand
miles a minute. coming with more than
the force of all the Alpine avalanches that
ever slipped from the Alps, coming with
more than the strength Of all the lightning
express trains that whistled, shrleked or
thundered across the continent. stop,
ne says,
lit II Only n Joke"
At the spectacle Mr.. Ingersoll almost
splits with laughter, and on subject more
agonizing than any other subject that ever
moved the nations he feels uproarious.
his funniest lecture on the most tremend-
Gus question that was ever asked-what
| must | do to be saved?-only joke. Now,
| | N in nj 10 NJ
lngcrsoll, the champion blaSphemer of
America, to show phase Of intidelity that
has never been Shewn, and that is lis lnean-
ness. have shown you its untruth, its
blsspheny and its ignorance Nov, have
TO explore its meanness. Mr.. lngarSOll, in
many of his lectures, satiriZed his earl Y
home. He describes the Sunday they
forced upon him in his youth, and in va
riouS ways gets you TO think that his
| father was tyrant, or a bigot, or a fool
| Now,
The Meanest Thing
| that a son can do is to assail the memory OF
! father or mother, whether good or bad. had
| 4 Christian parentage of the most elevated
| type. But suppose my father or mother
| had been arrogant, or hypocritical. or big
oted or bad. would it not have been deba9.
| ing in me to hook the horses to the plough
! share of contempt and 10 turn up the
| mound of their graves? Two accounts
' come to me in regard TO Mr.. Ingersolr>
lparentage. One says his father was Pres.
,yterian clergyman, good man. at times
eOquent in discourse, very liberal in his
fnternizatiOn with other denominations,
AT one time preaching sermon under
which n hundred souls were converted. in
dulgent to fault towards his children, and
| though he had some peculiarities his
memory is blessed. On the other hand
letter came 10 me last week from one of the
places OF his residence, giving the opposite
! character saying: He was abstemious to
fault, and the family suffered accordingly
| The children were commanded to eat,
drink and dress Sparingly. He never spoke
kind word of his wife, who was a noble
| Christian woman, nor of his children with
in the knowledge Of persons now living
| here who were familiar with the family.
| At last the mother died She was cared for
by friends in ner sickness and on the day
of interment gentle hands carried her form
and rested il for time on the catafalaue.
| Nh. lngersolls father, 20 the astonishment
| OF all present, deliberately removed his
cravat and gloves, stepped on the rostrum
and delivered
A Euiogy over the Body.
He attempted to- extol her virtues and pam
egyrize her conduct. Ii was the first time
he had ever been known publicly to speak
well Of her" know not which account
| is accurate. | only know that il is most
unnatural and mean, and a poor comment
airy on infidelity that it will allow the as
| sault Of a parents memory. Better the
conduct of Shem and Japhet, who at their
fathers inebriation walked backward with
a mantle, and with averted eyes, threw il
over him to hide the shame But why is il
that while Mr.. lngersoll derides his early
home he says nothing of his mother? All
accounts agree that she was good and
Christian. Why does he not tell Us the
reason of her goodness? Where is the
Bible she used to read? Is it still in the
family? Why not tell Us of her Christian
graces? Has he allowed his fathers frigid-
ity to impress him more than his mothers
tenderness? Where does he think she has
gomez Has she gone TO the same place
where his detested father has gone? Mr..
Ingersoll dislikes Westminster Assembly
Catechism and Browns Shorter Catechism,
perhaps he will like little better my cat
II. -