The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1882-04-28

Inc ltlenus OF cheap postage IN the
House Of Representatives feel confident
that large majority OF the Postoilicc Com.
mittce will ngrec TO a favorable report on
the proposition at this session. I
DODINGENSOLLC RlTlCIxED.
4 Glance nj ilis Position mud Mission OH
The Lecture Platform.
The New York Time.
Mr.. 1ngelsoll lcctured in this city on
Sunday night TO n large audience Of his
admirers, and attacked Christianity with
his accustomed brillancy. Like any other
lecturer, he Is paid for his lecture. and Il Is
thus easy to say that he abuses Christianity
10 make money. No fair.minded man,
however, Is willing to assume that Mr..
lngersoll Inns no other than IL purely mer.
cenary motive in endeavorins to under.
mine tho faith OF hS fellow.mcn. lie
claims that ~ Christianity isan impOsturc,
It IL the duty Of honest men TO expose II In
the interests Of truth. Is he quite sure TINT
he is prepared to curry this devotion 10 its
legitimate conclusion?
Let us grant that the Christian religion Is
m entire dclusion. Is 1t not beyond any
question bcnciicent delusion2 That
crimes have been committed in It's name in
past ages does not concern the question Of
the character Of its influence on the pres
cnt generation. There is now no danger
that Catholics will burn l'rotestunts or
lrotestan,s will burn Catholics. Men have
learned by experience that fire Is not al
argument that appeals 10 the intellect. No
church or sect now dreams OF making con.
verts with the fugot or the rack. Against
the Christianity OF today what charge can
Mr.. lngersol bring except that it asks as.
sent to doctrines WHICH he regards rs ln.
true and prcposterous? lie surely cannot
charge Christianity with sprcadingand fos.
tering immortality. Catholicism does not
teach men to commit adultery, Mcthodism
does not encourage murder, and Presby.
terianisn docs not promote theft and ly.
ing. The doctrine OF the incarnation may
DO foolishness i'll Mr.. Ingersoll's eyes, but
n belief in it cannot lead Il lnan into loose.
ness OF life. The dogma OF the Trinity
may be an absurd fable, but it never taught
bank cashier TO rob Il safe. The persist.
cncy with which Christian ministers urge
men to repent OF their sins may be mere
waste OF words, but it cannot by the wild.
est effort Of sophistry be viewed rs m on.
enlargement TO crime Bitterly MS Mr..
Ingcrsoll hates Christianity he must admit
| that its influence is OH the side OF morality
and deccncy, and that any Christian com
munity, however ridiculous may be its Nc.
cuiar religious decisions, is higher in the
scale OF morality than any pagan commu.
nifty. Also it is M unleniable fact that
hundreds Of thousands OF Christians bear
the burdens OF life and face the fear OF
death with courage and hope which spring
wholly from their religion. Mr.. Ingersoll
surely will not claim that he to trying 10
abolish Christianity because it makes men
worse and more hopeless than they would
be without it. He attacks it solely be.
cause it is Il dcluslon and it is degrading
and unmanly for men to cherish Il delu.
sion.
The unilinchins allegiance 10 truth is, OIL
course, admirable, but why does not Mr.
lngersoll carry it into every path OF life I
He is almost US fond OF children, so he rs.
sures us, rs he is OF truth. When next he
sees smile on the face OF crippled an,
sleeping child and knows that the sufferer
has met unfamiliar happiness in dream
will he awaken him and call him back to
pain because dreams are decisions and it is
nnmanly TO find comfort in delusion !
There are wives without number who
trust implicitly in husbands unworthy
OF them, wives whose happiness is born
OF their ignorance, and who love in
their husbands qualities which their own
fancy has created. Viii Mr.. Ingersoll
in his devotion to truth, insist that such
women shall no longer cling to their delu.
sions, and that they shall be crushed under
the knowledge OF truth concerning the men
whom they idolize? There are fathers and
mothers who believe that their sons are
upright and noble, and whose belief gives
them unspcakable happiness. Does Mr.
lngcrsoll propose to 90 to these parents and
tell them that their sons arc secretly drunk.
ards or thieves? Or would he ruin Il
young mans faith in humanity by con.
vincng him that his dead mother Just laid
in her coffin had been unworthy OF an
honest mans respect?
Nothing is more certain than That Mr.
lngersoll, with all his hatred OF decisions
and reverence for truth, would do none OF
these things. He is said to be n warm.
hearted man, and lie confines his hatred Of
decisions to Christianity. He tells the
mother that she will never again see her
dead child, for there is no resurrection and
no future life. lie takes from the man
whose life has been Il failure here the hope
Of that other life where the "hcroic for
earth too high" might become possible.
He snatches IRON the sufferer who has
borne pain and misery and heartache his