The Arkansaw traveler., 1884-10-04
NokksuLI..
fsaa rraneissan.

FSan Franeis<an.i
 Coicne. frgerscli is with us again. He comes. as ushal. to make money, to de- light the Ingoaly, io trouble and sNas- 1 perafe the elect. 10 weaken the faith oi many whc wo7i6 fx;n believe. and ,o make .nbelsN fashionable among the young. ~Re will, dcuntlrss. have im- rlense 3udierceS and hss bloaS upon the walls of the church will echo iE storms of applause. Tsese audiences Sill nc, be composed of the vicioas classes. On the ecatrary. the seats of the hall will be people people who read. think, ard lead decent. comfortable lives. bui who are no, oi the household of faith. or course, there will De q sprirkiing of cranks and hard cases, and a small representation of the pious, painfully come to hea- xha, their enemy has to say. These will be the more brainy of the church people, whose faith requires some foundation of reason upon which 10 rest. The great majority of Gods people, however, would account il a sin 10 listen to Colonel h. i gersoll's biasphemies, or even to read them in the full reports with which he daily press will favor the public. The business of the daily press is to prin, such matter IS the people like, and re- ports of these lectures are eserywhcre in 1 demand. This IS significant signihcan: of the ,nhdel spirit of the time
 Wha, manner of men are the preach CTS, that they le. this apostle of lnhdelity go s~aggering through he land, sneering a; their faith, and taunting them as fl they were pigraies and he giant He tells them 10 laeir teeth ,has :" the brand of inferiority is upon the orthodox brain =" snaps his fingers under their reverend noses, as Ii were, and challenges them to come ou, and fight for the cause nf which they are the commissioned officers Only here and there IS there a soldier of the cross who has the plask 10 ride ou. and declare himself rea Y 10 break lance with this irxculen; knis h, of darkness: ard usually the reverend champion dashes to the tourney after ;he colonel has departed.
 Why is this: Are the preachers afIaid of lnsersoll! Do they feel that. tho,lSh their cause may be hetter than his, his brain IS bigger than theirs. Or do they despise him ard his ,aunis so deeply ,hl. they think him no, worth lighting If the las, is the reason for the apparen, in- difference of the clergy 10 lngersoil's as- sanlts upon the church, they hiundct soreiy, as any man who moves among the masses oi the people, and so knows something Of their thoughts, can aveaeh. lngersells work is not n be neutral 1cs. by s:len, contempt He Is power, d great power Undoubtedly he has shaken the belief of many ihousar ds, and daily his books and pamphlets are shauering the faith of more. l: is quite true ,id4' he has said or written nothing iha, has not been written or said before ia; he has wonderfully telling way of pe,iing old ideas in q new dress. The man is } vii, rhe,orieian, poet. He popular izes the thoughts of profounder men precisely as others bring the writings al deep scientists within the comprehension of lihe reading crowd So, although h. gersoll's ideas have been thought sy other men as, at this late day. ai thoughts about the grea, problem oi the hereafter necessarily have been they are no, for iha, reason 10 be despised a. harmless. They are new to ninety if every hundred of those who listen to h. gersoll, and are as powerful for harm te the church as if they came fresh from the lips of Noltaire, Hume, Paine Gibbon Buckle, Lcoky, Huxley, or any of the great men al whose heels ingcrsoll trots letting of his fireworks.
 The church should have men of wide enough reading, sufficien, though, ana courage. to be able to meet this infdel orator foot to foot, and overthrow him What are shepherds paid for but to guard the flock from wolves and all prowling beasts? Wha, would be said of sheep. herder who defended his charges from the marauding coyote by sneering a; that animal as an insignificant creature, be- ne1;h the dignity of a shepherds atten. ton.
 There are able men in the pulp,s oi San Francisco men who have been edu- caied for the express purpose of defend. ing the faith. Tbey are bold in attack. ing, in their weekly sermons, the com monplaoe sins of the day. Who among them has the pluck to go up against tbis loud, defiant and self-coniideni tradnces !. of Gods word and ridiculer of his peo- pie. The clergyman who shall success fully expose Colonel Ingessoll's sophisms. disioini his logic, and meet his vi, and eloquence with equal brilliancy Of thought and style, will no, only lay the christian church. and all who incline to belief in the faith of their fathers. under great debt of obligation, bu, fame and fortune will be his There is grand opening here for some young clergyman of ambition, whose knowledge matches his real, and whose intellectual gifts are 1 as hiCh as hsx faith fs deep