Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1882-03-15
The Despair Of the Skeptic.

The sad, pathetic and almost hopeless cry
of Robert G. Ingorsoll over the grave of his
brother has been widely read. 1t is elo-
quent with feeling, aud shows that his heart
is tender and affectionate, and one can not
but sympathize with a grief which is not
soothed by any hope of a reunion hereafter.
He says, speaking of death Whether in
mid-sea or among the breakers of the far
ther Shore a wreck must mark at last the
end of each and all; and every life
will at its close become tragedy as sad and
deep and dark as can be woven of the warp
and woof of mystery and DEATH" And Life
is a narrow vale between the cold and barren
peaks of two eternities. We strive in vain
TO look beyond the heights. We cry aloud,
and the only answer is the echo of our wall
ing cry" This, then, is the despairing moan
of one of the brightest infidels of our coun-
try-of one who is doing more to destroy
faith in God and immortality than any
other How striking the contrast between
such wreck, as Ingersoll calls it, and the
joyous, hopeful death of a Christian. !
have lately been reading an account Of the
last hours Of Sir Walter Scott. As death
approached this great and healthy-minded
Scotchman, he asked Lockhart to read to
him. "What shall read ?" said Lockhart.
" Nbtu you ASK bdlu DlT w dlJeT " mere
is but one book" And the words that have
comforted the dying, and soothed the living
for eighteen hundred years fell gratefully
upon his ear Let not your heart be trou-
bled In my fathers house there are many
mansions. / go to prepare place for you"
Lockhart," were the last words of Scott,
"Lockhart, have but moment to speak
TO you; my dear, be good man be virtu-
Gus, be religious Nothing else will give
you any comfort when you come to lie here u
Ingersoll sadly says over the remains of his
beloved brother "We cry aloud, and the
only answer is the echo Of our wailing cry p
and speaking of his dead brother, he says
He climbed the heights, and left supersti-
tion far below" II such are the results OF
climbing the heights y if to climb is only
to look into the black gulf of despair, to
hear over the grave only the "echoes of oul
wailing cry" who would not rather stay in
the warm valley of faith and hope
would kindly ask Ingersoll, Are not faith
and hope better than doubt and despair
And, if so, why make your lifes mission t.
ridicule, satirize, and destroy the faith anc
hope of the thousands who find in their re-
ligion the only refuge from the suffering:
and sorrows of:this life Why labor to max,
your brother Of humanity believe that he il
but
| The pilgrim OF a day2
| Spouse Of the worm and brother of the clay,
| Frail as the leaf in autuInn's yellow bower,
Dust In the wind, or dew upon the fower2
| A child without a sire,
et q S.' Se saHe Ie Ss Hn" Ss%s.Ss FORM
As wrecks illuminate the storm.
And then
Tonight and silence sink forevennorel
If these
| The pompons teachings ye proclaim,
| Lights OF the world and dem-gods OF fame,
The laurel wreath that murderer rears,
Blood nursed and waered by the widew's tears,
Seems not so foul, so tainted and 40 dread,
Infidelity is, indeed, the deadly night
shade" deadly alike to happiness and +
virtue. There are exceptions like Ingersol
who have inherited from their Christian
ancestors natures so generous that thei
sturdy virtues have resisted the deadly in
duence. But every blow this modern apo:
tie of infdelity strikes against Christian
ity is blow in favor of vice and in
morality. To the young man whose fait
Ingersoll, by his wit and eloquence, ha
shaken, ! would say, listen to his cry c
despair over his dead brother, and compar
it with the Christians triumphant deatI
and joyous hope, and choose the truth
isaac ". Arnold.