The Emporia weekly news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1881-1889, 1884-03-20
rALMAGE At KANSAS CITY.
IngersOlism ReVIewsd-An Eloquent
Defence Of Christianity and the
E3ikl6

Bible
Rev. T Dewitt Talmage lectured on
"Ingersolism" at Kansas City on Fri
day evening last to q very large Su-
dienc. HIS caustic criticism on the in
feel doctrines of Ingersoll was publish
ed in the Kansas City journal of Sat
urday, and is complete vindication of
the Bible and the Christian religion.
1t was received with the highest deA-
constructions of satisfaction by his vast
audience.
Mr.. Ingersoll pretends that the Chris
| tian religion Is obsolete and the Bible
an ebsurdity. l will give you a few
| facts to show you how the Christian re-
ligion has become obsolete, facts gather
| ed by one outside of the church and
| trustworthy to an extent that even the
| sweeping scepticism would gladly sc
knowledge. In the first century OF the
| Christian religion there were SOC, 600
members in the church; in the second
century, 100000; in the third, 5,0OO,-
900; in the fourth, 10000, 600; see the
tide rise; IN the fifth, 15,0O0. 600; IN the
sixth, 1900, 900; in the seventh, 4,0OO,-
coo; in the eighth, 10000. coo; in the
ninth, 10000, 900; IN the tenth, $4,000,
i
twelfth, 90, coo, 600; in the thirteenth,
| "a, 0O0, GOO; 1t fell back IN that century
but watch 1t rising afterwards; in the
fourteenth, $4,000, GOO; in the fifteenth,
100, coo 600; in the sixteenth, 12o, 000,-
600; In the seventeenth, i55, 0O0, 000;
In the eighteenth, 200, ZOO, 900, and in
the year 1880 there we're $4,000, 600 of
Christians. Wild applause
That looks az if the church were be-
1 oh
thousand Christian churches built every
year IN this country and =, 500 600 copies
of the Bible sOld-not those given away,
but sold-in the year 1880. Does that
look as if the religion, the church and
the book were becoming obsolete, as MIR.
Ingersoll claims?
Mr. Ingersoll also demonstrates the
| meanness of intidelity by trying to sub
stitute for the chief consolation of the
| world absolutely nOthing You have
only TO hear him at the edge of the
| grave, or at the edge of the coffin, dis
coursing, CD find out that there is no
comfort in infidelity. There is more
good cheer in the hooting of an owl at
| midnight than in his discOurses at the
| verge of the grave. You might as well
ask the spirit of eternal darkness to dis
course on the brightness of everlasting
day. You know there are millions of
people who get their chief consolation
from this Holy Book. Now, Mr.. Ingor-
| soil proposes 10 take away that consols-
tion. What do you think of it? What
would you think of a crusade of this
| sort! Suppose 9 man should resolve
that he would organize q conspiracy to
destroy all the medicines from all
the apothecaIi'S and from all
the hospitals of the earth. The
work Is done. The medicines are taken
and they are thrown into the river, or
the lake. or the sea. 4 patient wakes up
at midnight in paIoSysm of distress,
and wants an anodyne. "Oh," says the
nurse, 1.-The anodynes are all destroyed !;
| we have no drops to give you, but instead
of that I'll read you lecture on the
hbsurdities of morphine, and on the alb
surdities of all remedies" But the man
continues to writhe in pain and the
nurse says: an continue to read you
some discourses on anodynes, the indie
cencies of anodynes, the absurdities of
snodynes. For your grosn III give you
laugh" Here in the hospital Is pa
tient having a gsngrened limb amputa-
ted. He says, "Oh, for ether; oh, for
chloroform." The doctor says, why,
they are all destroyed; we don't
but have got something a great deal
better. I'll read you q lecture on the
mistakes of James G. Simpson, the dis
coverer of chloroform as an anRthetic,
and upon the mistakes OF Drs. Agnew
and Hamilton, and Hosack, and Mott,
and Harvey and Abernethy" But"
says the man, AZ must haYe some anRS-
thetics" "NO," say the doctors, "they are
all destroyed, but we have got something
a great deal better. What is that ~
Gun" Fun about medicines. Lie
down, all We patients in Bellevue hos
pital, and stop your gToaning-all ye
broken hearted of all the cities, and quit
your crying; we haYe the catholicon at
last! Here is a dose of wit; here is
STRENGTHENING plaster of sarcasm; here
Is Q bottle of Fibaldry that You are to
keep we'll shaken up and take q spoon
full of alter each meal, and If that does
not cure you. here is solution of bias
phemy In which you may battle, and
here is tinctuIe of derisIon. Tickle
the skeleton of death with a repartee I!
Make the king of teErors cackle! For
all the agonies Of all the ages, q joke
Millions OF people willing with uplifted
hand toward heaven to affirm that the
gospel of Jesus Christ il full of consola-
ton for them, and yet Mr.. Ingersoll pro-
poses to take il away, giving nothing,
absolutely nothing, except fun. Is
there any greater height, or depth, or
length, or breadth, or immensitc of
meanness in all Gods universe?
Mr.. Ingersoll still further demon
strates the mcanness of infi6elity by
trying to substitute for the Bible ex
PLANTATION of the future world religion
of don't know" Is there q God
Don't know! Is the soul immortal
Don't know! This man proposes TO
substitute the religion of don't know
for the religion of 81 know" II know
in whom l have believed" 81 know
that my Redeemer lIveth." Infidelity
proposes to substitute religion Of aw-
Jul negatives tor our religion OF glorious
! posltives, showing right before US a
world of reunion and ecstasy, and high
companionship, and glorious worship,
and stupendous victory; the mightiest
joy of earth not high enough - reach
the base of the HImalsya of uplifted
! splendor awaiting all those who on
wings of Christian faith will soar
toward it.
Have you heard of the conspiracy to
put out all the light houses on the
coast? Do you know that on certain
night of next month, Eddystone light
house, Bell Rock Lighthouse, SherryYcre
lighthouse, M0ntauk lighthouse, Hat
tsras lighthouse, New London light
house, Barnegat lighthouse, and the $40
lighthouses on the Atlantic and Pacific
coasts are to be extinguished? ooh"
you say, "what will become of the ships
on that nights What will be the fate Of
the one million sailors following the sea !?
What will be the doom OF the millions
of passengers? Who will arise to put
down such conspiracy" Every man,
woman aud child in America and
the world. But that is only q
fable That is what infidelity is
! Srry 10 rz ont all the 1NahfhnVaana
on the coast of eternity, letting the soul
go up the ''naFrows" of death with no
light, no comfort, no pesce-ell that
coast covered with the black
ness Of darkness. Instead of
the great light house q glow
worm of wit, FREELY of iOcosIty. Which
do you like the better? o voyager tor
eternity-the FREELY of the lighthouse
What . mission infidelity has started oni
The extinguishment of lighthouses, the
breaking up Of lifeboats, the dismissal
of all the pilots, the turning Of the in
scription en- your child's grave into q
farce and lie.
Walter SCOTS "Old Mortality" chisel
in hand, went through the land to cut
out into palmer letters the half obiiter-
aiOd inscriptions on the tombstones, and
IL was beautiful mission. But Mr.. In
gersoIl is spending his lie, and the men
who are like him are spending their
lives, with hammer and chisel trying 70
cut out from the tombstones OF your
DE- I'D ali the story Of resurrection and
heaven He is the iconoclast Of every
: village graveyard, and Of every city
cemetery, and Of Westminster Abbey.
, Instead of Christian consolation for the
dying, freezing sneer. Instead Of
prayer, = grimace Instead of Paul's
I triumphant defiance of death, going
Z out You know not where, TO stop you
know not when, 10 do you know moi
!, what. That IS infdelity.
! To show that iHfidelity can provide
I no. substitute for what It proposes &c
{ destroy, / ask you TO mention the names
of the meFcIful and the educational Ia.
| stftutions which infidelity founded anc